


Portraits of The Past

by Thegeekygirl52



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Bring Back Black | Sirius Black Returns From Beyond the Veil, F/M, M/M, POV Sirius Black, Remus deserved better, Sirius Black Lives, Sirius deserved better, Translation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-07
Updated: 2020-11-16
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:53:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 39,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25764739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thegeekygirl52/pseuds/Thegeekygirl52
Summary: Sirius took his second first breath on a broom that aimed to crash into the ground. he pulled it up violently, pointing it up again, what made him survive the crash that could have killed him.He looked around and was shocked: there was a real battle over him.And there was Harry. No, he was there. Wait, he was ahead.But what…?There were many more Harrys than he would have expected.[Sirius Black returns from the world of the dead] - [possibly Wolfstar]
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Remus Lupin/Nymphadora Tonks, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 6
Kudos: 44





	1. 00

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TheCactusIncident](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheCactusIncident/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Portraits of The Past](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23894821) by [TheCactusIncident](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheCactusIncident/pseuds/TheCactusIncident). 



_ "They arrived. You have to go" _

_ To go?" _

_ Harry needs you. Can't you hear it? " _

_ "Yes, but can I really come back ...?" _

_ "Run. I love you" _

_ "Love you too" _

Sirius took his second first breath on a broom that aimed to crash into the ground. He pulled it up violently, pointing it up again, narrowly surviving a crash that could have killed him.

He didn't feel the wind on his face. He felt for his cheeks, but instead of skin he encountered something stiff.

Did he have a mask?

He stuck his fingers down his jaw. Yes, it was a mask. Good Godric, he was so confused and moreover it was dark, he really had difficulty focusing on the situation.

He looked around and was shocked: there was a battle over him.

And there was Harry. No, he was there. Wait, he was ahead.

But what…?

There were many more Harrys than he would have expected.

He entered the battle and started fighting. The onset of adrenaline cleared his thoughts and stiffened his muscles as he fought against what was clearly a death eater.

He just hoped his mask was clearly different from theirs.

Looking around he saw Shackelbolt, some Weasleys and others of the Order, each flanking a Harry, but none was the right one. He wouldn't have been able to explain it, but he knew they weren't the right one.

He kept going on, watching each Harry and continuing to fight. He had landed two unidentified Death Eaters, dodged friendly fire and managed to get further. At

the top of that absurd procession, which flew faster than anyone, was Hagrid on his motorcycle, but his head was bent forward clearly passed out as Harry tried to steer the motorcycle and not get killed by the Death Eaters who were surrounding him.

Sirius pushed the broom as hard as he could, casting a spell on it that would have canceled a game in quidditch and prayed that the poor thing would hold.

He managed to reach the motorcycle, which was at dragon flame speed, without being charred and placed the motorcycle side by side with respect to Harry.

Uff, he was about to kill himself. Again.

From the broom he jumped astride the motorcycle, into Hagrid's arm and began to drive the motorcycle.

"Think about fighting Bambi!" he yelled at the boy, lifting his mask for a moment.

Harry looked at him shocked, but for some absurd reason, he trusted him.

The sidecar in which the boy was, was hit and wobbled dangerously, but Sirius threw him a couple of sticky spells that would have been enough for the moment .

"What's the destination?" he asked as they dodged curses.

"Andromeda Tonks"

Sirius had only a vague idea of where they were at the moment, but he was pretty sure he could bring them to Andromeda. If his cousin hadn't moved in the past sixteen years.

The battle was tough, it was clear that the Death Eaters weren't there to have fun; it seemed that thanks to the motorcycle they were gaining a lot of ground, but Harry was half passed out and Sirius had been hit by a  _ Stupefy _ that would not have been enough to knock him out, but it was enough to confuse his ideas.

He was still trying to shake off the spell, all his attention focused on moving the motorcycle forward, when he saw a green flash to his left.

No.

The Dark Lord was there, but before he could even raise his hand, Harry's arm had lifted, his head still dangling, but the wand was already defending it's wizard.

Sirius had no idea how such a thing was possible and was ready to slip between their two spells, but at that moment he would have only risked blowing them all up.

He took a sigh of relief when Harry's wand shattered Voldemort's and before the dark wizard could simply wrap his hands around his godson's neck and end it differently, with a complicated combination of buttons and levers, which Sirius prayed to they were all still working, made the motorcycle and its passengers invisible.

He deactivated the flight, violently dropping several meters, and then turned it on once out of the path of the Dark Lord.

They finally managed to get their tracks and the animagus lowered the motorcycle on the road and only then deactivated the invisibility spell.

The brakes no longer worked and the engine flickered dangerously, but they were safe.

At the back of the cottage Andromeda was waiting for them, and to avoid running her over, Sirius had to stop the bike with a spell. He dismounted and threw a  _ Reinnerva _ on Harry and two at Hagrid to get them to wake up and lifted his mask.

"What-!" the giant said awekening suddenly, while Sirius carefully inspected his godson's face.

"Quiet Hagrid, we took care of it," he replied. Harry had a cut on his cheek and was breathing hard.

"Sirius!"

"Come out of there, you need to get healed," he said helping him out of the sidecar.

"You look taller," he said as he felt the adrenaline drop very quickly.

"How is it possible?" Hagrid asked in shock and before Sirius could come up with any shrewd answer, he heard himself called. His head had throbbed dangerously.

"Siri?" said her cousin in shock.

"Hey Dromeda. I am ... "before he could finish the sentence, his eyes turned back and he slumped to the ground.

Was it possible that he had been given so little time?


	2. 01

Sirius had woken up after a while on the Tonks' sofa under the staring eyes of Harry, Hagrid, 'Dromeda and Ted and with three wands and a pink umbrella pointed at him. Someone had also took his wand after he passed out so Sirius tried to be good; Sirius asked for a glass of water while his cousin did a series of spells and absurd questions to figure out if it really was him.

" What did you get for you seventeenth birthday from your parents?" he was asked and he risked that the water went down the wrong path .

"Ah! Even a trick question? Nothing, obviously. The last time you and I met was in seventy-six, after I ran away from home before I turned seventeen, and your daughter stuck a lollipop in my hair. By the way, I met her before I died and she was an Auror. Is she still an Auror? "

"From how he talks, I'd say it's really him," Ted said in shock.

"How did you get back?" his cousin asked him, shocked.

“In truth I think I never went on. I stayed in a sort of limbo. How much time had passed?"

"You died over a year ago"

"Wha ... really? But ... It seemed just a few days, a week at most "

"It was June 18th 1996, today is July 27th 1997," said Harry, speaking for the first time. The boy was holding the mask which Sirius woke up with, it had the shape of the head of a black wolf-dog with pointed ears, very similar to Padfoot. He was pretty sure Harry couldn't look him in the face, too upset and reluctant to trust. Everyone present stared at him with wide eyes, but he could not blame them.

Had he been dead for a year?

"Godric, must have happened every sort of thing, " he said shocked.

"You have no idea," muttered the boy sarcastically.

"I ... I have to go to the bathroom for a moment," he said, looking at the hosts and Ted motioned for him to follow him.

He closed the bathroom door and looked in the mirror. He needed a moment to be alone and put order in is mind.

They were in the Mysteries Office, he was dueling with Bella; a curse had pushed him into the stone arch and he found himself in a room exactly identical to the one he had just left, but completely white, so white as to be able to blind.

It seemed like barely a week had passed, it was absurd that more than a year had passed.

He had told him that time flowed differently, but he did not believe ...

Before having a panic attack, he took deep breaths and cataloged everything he had with him since he woke up.

The most unusual object was clearly the dog mask because his brother always had a poor sense of humor, but it was a clear invitation not to let people know that he was alive again.

The clothes were the same as when he died, but he had his first wand in his pocket, the one they broke before his eyes when they brought him to Akzaban. Cedar, dragon heart string, ten inches, rigid. On his wrist he had the watch that the Potters had given him for his seventeenth birthday, the one he thought was lost along with his wand.

He undressed and the boxers were also the same. His clothes were clean, they only had the signs of the battle that was just over, for them it has not been a week or a year.

He started looking in the mirror behind the door and he had all the tattoos and scars he remembered, but his physique was different: he had more muscles, his bones didn't hurt anymore and he no longer had that patch on his left ear where his hair didn't grow anymore, due to a tick infection he had had in Azkaban.

He seemed rejuvenated, but not so much in age, it was clearly visible that he was over thirty years old, but the signs of abuses, the teeth that he was no longer able to fully restore after prison, the purple swellings around the eyes due to the inability to sleep more than a couple of hours a night, bad nails and broken bones healed badly, everything was gone or fixed.

Death had erased the abuses from his body and Sirius could only be grateful for it.

He was still looking at his molars in the mirror (all in their places! Not even a rotten one!), When someone knocked and startled him.

"Are you dead again?" asked his cousin

"And abandon you after such an entrance?" he replied as he dressed himself with a gesture of his wand before leaving the bathroom.

"Okay, now what's the plan?"

"It would be appropriate to warn the Order," proposed the woman and Sirius had to agree.

To travel on the motorbike in three to The Burrow, Sirius turned into Padfoot and got into Harry's arms in the sidecar.

"Remember the spell to curb it or we'll crash," he said to Harry before transforming. As a dog he was barely smaller than when he was human, but at the moment it seemed like the only possible alternative. The state of the sidecar was so bad that if he tried to enlarge it, it would split in protest.

Of course, everyone at the Weasley home was also extremely shocked to see him alive.

"Yes, I'm back, I know it's been a year, ask me all the security questions you want. Need a hand?" he said looking at the members of the Order in various shades of wounds to heal. The worst was George, lying on the sofa, the whole left side of his face covered in blood.

"What spell was it?" he asked the room as he watched it.

"Sectumsempra," said Fred.

"Damned greasy brat ..." he muttered nervously. It wasn't enough for him to play the little chemist, he also had to invent spells that all his old Death Eaters friends knew perfectly well “The best option is the _Venera Sanenctum_ , but I'm not sure how much we can do to recover the ear. Molly, if you will, "he said to the woman who, still completely shocked, moved away while Sirius had already started the Incantation .

He had just finished and the bleeding had stopped, leaving a large scar behind, when he felt a wand pointed at his neck.

"Tell me something that only Sirius Black could know," he heard Remus ask and turned slowly.

The last thing he wanted was to get killed so soon and moreover by him.

“Oh for Merlin, where do I start. The others and I understood that you were a werewolf in the middle of the first year, but we only talked about it with you in the second year, we started the process to become Animagi at the end of the third year and we managed to finish it in the fifth, remarkable, but we could have done better if I hadn't been an idiot. I am a dog, James was a deer and I don't want to talk about that other one. The Sectumsempra curse is an invention of Snivellus who used it on James in February '76. Because of that attack I made the second biggest dumb thing of my life so you never really managed to forgive me, not entirely, and I deserve it. Do i keep going? I keep going. For the diploma we went to the Black Sabbath concert and spent all of War Pigs jumping because it was our hymn of war. You stole one of the shirts for me, and I was especially grateful for it once we got home. You lost your virginity with a- "

"That's enough!" cried the wizard and Sirius smiled.

“That would have been a good story. Hi Moony "

"It's been a year ... how is it possible?" sighed the upset man as he brushed his hair and then a shoulder, his wand finally lowered. Sirius took the hand on his shoulder and started to squeeze it, but his fingers met something on his ring finger. A metal circle, an insignificant thing, but enough to shatter Sirius' smile.

Remus never wore accessories, only the watch. Just the watch.

There was a moment when the two said with their eyes things that Sirius never wanted to hear and then Remus slowly pulled his hand away. The tips of his fingers were still brushing his long black hair, when Tonks, who had just arrived, slipped under his arm and started talking, she also spoke with Sirius but Sirius didn't hear a single word, his eyes were fixed on her left hand on which stood an identical ring. Were the two of them ...?

"I'm going back to George," he said as she still spoke, then turned and left.

The best solution for the boy, if he wanted to hide his battered ear, was to grow his hair, a choice that Sirius and Bill supported animatedly, almost as much as Molly had opposed. They were still discussing hair when Arthur Weasley silenced any discussion with the news that Alastor had died in battle, significantly worsening the evening's morale.

"Who will be the leader of the Order now?" Bill asked

“Why was Alastor the leader? Where's Dumbledore? " Sirius asked and everyone present looked at each other uneasily, then voted unanimously for Remus.

"Dumbledore is dead," said the wizard hastily.

Dumbledore was dead? The most powerful wizard in the magical world was dead?

"W-what? Who did it?"

"Snape killed him," Remus replied without turning around.

They all seemed ready for impact, ready to see Sirius explode. Sirius was also ready, in all honesty, but the anger he felt rising from under the sternum was cold, there was not that disruptive flame that had always devoured him to the bone.

He shattered the cup he still held in his hand, but before the rest of them could react he had already hit it with a Reparo and had taken care of his hand.

“And therefore the bat had betrayed us. What a surprise! " the animagus mumbled as he slammed the cup on the table and risked breaking it again.

"Is it your old wand?" Remus asked in surprise. Obviously he would recognize it, he was the only one of the Marauders able to use it. It was a rather stubborn wand and Sirius had missed it like a limb.

“I had it in my pocket when I woke up. A gift of death, ”he said sarcastically

"And for every gift a curse," muttered Remus in a low voice with a vacant look and then went away. The speeches became quite technical very quickly, they explained to Sirius exactly what was the mission just carried out, but when the speech moved to the next goals of the Order, Molly insisted on sending the boys to sleep.

"They are all adults now, what excuse do you have?" Sirius commented sharply and the woman stiffened.

"Your presence"

"Ah, so now I'm the bad wolf," Tonks, Bill and someone else held back a laugh "good to know" he got up too, saying he already had enough to metabolize and wanted to talk to Harry. Indeed it was not a lie.

He followed the boy to Ron's room,where the boy kindly disappeared.

. "How do you feel?" he asked sitting on the edge of the bed next to his godson.

"I have no idea. You are here which is absurd, but Alastor and Hedwig died tonight and it happened because of me "

“No Harry, it didn't happen because of you. They sacrificed themselves for something very important, something that sees you exactly in the center, but never think that it's your fault. The fault lies with the Dark Lord who started this war, we are only doing our best to stop it, "he said, holding his arm around his shoulders.

“I'm sorry for Hedwig, I know how much you cared. If I knew how I got back, I would give you back all the loved ones you lost. ”Harry embraced him, sinking his head into his shoulder and inhaling in a forcibly controlled manner.

"I can't explain how important it is that you are here," he said after a while against his leather jacket.

"I love you, Bambi" he replied resting his head on his. They were almost the same height now and Harry was certainly uncomfortable, but it didn't matter.

"Do you really need to call me that?" the boy asked absently.

“I used to call you that when you were the size of a snitch in your mother's belly. Why? You do not like it?"

"Not much"

"Oh I'm sorry, I'll try to use it as much as possible" he managed to make him smile and Sirius considered it a victory.

"I missed you, Snuffles"

"Ah, I see that you can defend yourself even without a wand"

When Ron shyly stuck his head in the room, Sirius wished the both of them goodnight and vanished.

On the ground floor most people had gone home, including Hagrid somehow, and Sirius realized he didn't know where to go to sleep.

"Sirius, I just talked to my mom and she said that if you want you can sleep at their house," Tonks explained to him as if he had read his thoughts and Sirius had to use all his liar arsenal to maintain a neutral expression.

It wasn't Tonks' fault. it wasn't Tonks' fault. it wasn't Tonks' fault.

"Actually, I think it's the best option," he managed to say calmly, already going to the door. He had a motorcycle to convince to restart before he hoped he could go to sleep.

"Sirius, before you go," Molly Weasley began and Sirius turned, surprised. "Before he died, Dumbledore entrusted a mission to the boys. They refuse to talk about it to anyone, but Arthur has heard them talk about something to find and destroy. "

So were they already at that point?

"I know I'm not in a position to ask you anything, but if there is one adult with whom Harry could decide to talk about it ..." he saw Molly swallow a lot of pride to ask him such a thing.

"I'll try to talk to Harry about it, promise." He reassured her with the most affable expression he could. The woman seemed satisfied and certainly Sirius would not explain to him that they had two rather different purposes.

Sirius returned to the Burrow the following day to try and talk to Harry. It didn't seem like a great idea to jump straight to the point, above all because he had a question to ask him, an insignificant question, especially in comparison with everything else, but that had haunted him all night.

"Harry how ... how long have Remus and Tonks been married? " he asked after a while. They were bringing chairs to be placed under the large purple tent under which Bill and Fleur's wedding would take place. He really wasn't expecting a wedding in those times, but who was he to judge?

“Weeks, at most. Tonks told me before we left Privet Drive. I don't know exactly, they had to do everything in secret because of the werewolves laws, ”he explained distractedly.

"Ah, understood. Do you have anything new to tell me? " better change subject, the boy knew nothing about it.

"I didn't get married," he replied with a shrug and Sirius laughed heartily.

"I would have beaten you if you had," he said jokingly and then he realized that going around it just wasn't his style.

"I know you've been given a task," he admitted bluntly and Harry stiffened.

"Did Molly tell you?"

“She's just worried, as always. As if we were at war, ”he said sarcastically.

Harry snorted and Sirius sat down on a table, looking out.

“I know Dumbledore has given you a mission and I certainly won't try to dissuade you. In fact, what I'm offering you is a hand, "he explained. Harry clearly did not expect it, not even from him, the most infantile adult of the whole Order.

“And would you trust to follow me? Without knowing what we are doing? " he asked and Sirius nodded.

"Of course"

Before Harry could answer him, they were interrupted by Molly Weasley who, after he returned from the dead and healed her son, treated him marginally better. Not well, but better.

"Harry honey, I wondered, what would you like to do for your birthday?"

"Mrs. Weasley, a normal dinner will be fine, it's the day before the wedding, I don't want to create problems"

"Oh, nonsense, it doesn't happen every day that one turns seventeen!"

Sirius' gaze was drawn to his own wrist on which stood the watch he received at seventeen. It was in excellent condition, above all because he hadn't seen it since October '81 and it was probably not the original, but the big scratch on the dial that he had caused while he and James ran away from the Death Eaters on a motorcycle, was there. Was it possible to resurrect a watch?

He left the two to argue under the tent and went into the kitchen where he found George who had enchanted the glasses to polish themselves and watched them dance neatly.

"Hey, how's the ear going?" he asked the boy.

"I'm hoping that my hearing will become ultrasonic, but for the moment it doesn't seem like anything has changed," he said with a shrug.

“Let someone tell you with a dog's ears: you don't want ultrasonic hearing. Rather, is there still some Polyjuice potion? ” he inquired, but the boy shook his head.

"The one without Harry's hair its at Remus and Tonks'"

"Ah, damn it. I'll have to do the old-fashioned way then. ”He slightly transfigured a serving dish to make it perfectly reflective and then began to transfigure his features. He gave himself short brown hair and a little beard, hazel eyes and a wider nose. He transfigured a spoon into a pair of glasses and declared himself satisfied. George approved with a thumb.

“I'd say that's enough. If I don't come back in three hours don't come looking for me, it's not worth it "

-

Sirius slept at Andromeda, mostly because she was the only person who had offered him a place. Hagrid had officially returned the bike and he and Ted were working on it together, putting it back in top condition. The gamekeeper had done his best, but it was clear that he was much better at dealing with magical creatures than mechanical ones.

The complicated network of spells made on the bike wasn't in bad conditions, but all the purely mechanical parts were ready for collapse.

"Congratulations," Sirius said after a while to Ted who was currently standing by the garage table.

"For what?" asked the bewildered man.

"The wedding," he replied obvious and the other frowned.

"Go fuck yourself, Black," he replied rather piqued. It hadn't been Sirius' intention, he and Ted had once got along. The motorcycle had been his once and when he wanted to get rid of it he had sold it to Sirius at an almost embarrassing price.

“Come on Ted, I'm serious. Remus is a good person "

"Remus isn't the problem, it's the other"

"Is there another?" Okay, this was just to see how far he could get the ex Hufflepuff to go before he started cursing him. 

"Don't be an idiot Sirius, you're too smart," he replied, clearly disturbed.

“Look, we've been handling it for years and we were a gang of teenagers. You shut it up in the cellar one day a month and you're done. "He tried to calm him down and then went back to the motorcycle.

"I think she is pregnant"

The wrench fell from Sirius' hand, but he catched it on the fly before it didn't go on the pavement and continued as if nothing had happened.

"They haven't said anything yet, but I've always had a sixth sense for these things ... you think a child could-" Ted began, but Sirius interrupted him.

“Ted, I'm almost an expert on the subject: the only way to become werewolves is to be bitten and only if that happens on a full moon. Wolves are not born, they are made "

“With all the laws against werewolves, if they found out that they got married and that she is pregnant, Dora would get into serious trouble and Remus would be executed. I am ashamed of it, but when one has children he wants the best for them and, right now, Remus is not that "

Sirius had a surge of protective instinct towards the werewolf, but managed to restrain himself. Death had really done him good.

“I've known him since he was eleven and I can assure you one thing: he would never have married her if he hadn't loved her more than anything else. You can only see the negative sides and I can understand it, but Remus will do anything for Dora and the baby. "

The two were silent for a while and Sirius thought he had been able to convince him. Absurd. See if he had to cheer up the father-in-law of his ...

"I seem to remember that… you knew him pretty well some time ago," Ted began, one dangerously arched eyebrow. Clearly the animagus had failed big time.

"What are you talking about?" he asked innocently

You lived together, didn't you? After graduation "

"it was for convenience. We were in the Order, spending so much time wandering around for Dumbledore that getting away from London was stupid, ”he justified shrugging.

"I seem to remember differently"

Okay, there was no point in covering up.

“Ted, don't ask questions you don't want answered. And pass me the brace ”he clarified and the man snorted and then handed him the tool.

"For Merlin's balls ..."

"Hip-Hip Hurray," Sirius muttered.

-

On the night of Harry's birthday, Sirius drove his newly refurbished motorcycle to The Burrow. He had also washed and polished it before lunch, which clearly hadn't happened in a long time and now it looked like a completely different bike, even the sidecar seemed to have regained the joy of living.

He had arrived quite early as he wanted to spend some time with Harry alone to calmly explain his gift to him.

"I have something for you," he began immediately after giving him his good wishes. He gestured to the stairs and they holed up in Ron's room for some privacy.

He had already talked to Molly about it as she had offered to give Harry his brother Fabian's watch and Sirius felt his stomach squeeze as he remembered the Prewett twins, three years ahead of him at Hogwarts, who also died in the name of the Order, but he had explained to the woman that James and Lily had already thought of it.

"This is a present from your parents for your seventeenth birthday," he explained, handing him the box and the boy's eyes widened.

Gringotts offered a safety deposit box service that you could use if you had a vault with them, and during the First War James had organized a safe for Harry. It was something that many families who had young children had done, not knowing if they would have the chance to see him turn seventeen. There was nothing priceless inside, it wasn't the invisibility cloak, but there were letters for him, a few photos, a lock of red hair in a locket and the classic seventeen bithday gift. The new parents had put it together in the hope that one day they would retire it themselves, but that had not been the case. They had luckily added Sirius's magical signature to the people who could collect it and that was what he had done.

Harry looked terrified to even lift the lid, but Sirius encouraged him with a hand on his shoulder. Inside the impersonal metal box was a large wooden box with a "P" engraved on it. The boy took it out of the first box and touched the closure which magically opened, making him startle. Harry took a deep breath and lifted the lid, observing the contents carefully.

"The other things are more personal, I would say we start with the _pièce de résistance_ , " he said, pointing to the blue velvet box that was on top.

The watch inside was exactly like the one on Sirius' wrist. The strap was black with silver details, the dial was mother of pearl with four coral inserts to mark the main points and silver bars to mark the others while the three time hands were gilded.

"This was James's, your grandfather Fleamont gave the same watch to me and your father" he said showing him his wrist "Both he and the Blacks went around with pocket watches, but I don't think they would have lasted long in my hands or James's, to be honest "

" _Audax at fidelis_ " Harry read from the back of the dial.

"Intrepid but faithful," Sirius translated, "It's the Potter motto, but also a good description for both of your parents." Sirius took off his watch, showing that the back of his also bore the same engraving.

"I didn't even know the Potters had a motto," Harry said almost ashamed. Sirius couldn't even count the number of times James had yelled "Audax at fidelis!" before going head first towards some bullshit or another.

"Of course. Your family is a direct descendant of Ignotus Peverell, the only reason it is not among the twenty-eight pureblood families is because your ancestors never went eye to eye with many others who wanted to discriminate against muggles and muggleborns and have always fought for their rights. "

Harry looked at him and then back to his watch.

"It really is beautiful"

"Your grandfather had good taste," he said jokingly and Harry smiled slightly as he put on the watch.

“When this whole situation is over, there are a lot of things I'd like to show you. A whole house of memories, of history that we could talk about calmly. This is just a taste "

Harry nodded vigorously, wiped his eyes and then looked into the box.

"There's still a lot of stuff in here"

"I'm here for this"

The evening ended much quicker than anyone would have liked, as Scrimgeour's sudden visit jeopardized Tonks and Remus' freedom and Sirius was still legally dead. He had glimpsed a beautiful golden snitch cake that he would never taste, but he stayed just long enough to be invited to Bill and Fleur's wedding the next day and vaguely panic because he didn't have a present to bring them. Or a suit for the cerimony.

Andromeda would surely help him come up with something.

-

At Bill and Fleur wedding Sirius was a sight, modesty (Ah!) aside.

As he had already noticed, death had done him good; something of the ghost aura that trailed after his escape from Azkaban seemed to have lightened, he had fewer dark circles, his eyes sparkled, and he had a different physical form that of a skeleton. To blend in the crowd, he had shaved off his beard completely and charmed his hair and eyebrows the same red as the Weasleys, adding a generous sprinkle of freckles on his face and hands.

Having been invited only a handful of hours earlier, it had been impossible to have a magical-made suit made and so he had turned to the muggle fashion. The clerk had called the jacket a tailcoat and had insisted on gray vests and ascot with a white shirt that Sirius, had had to concede, suited him quite well. He had also added a purple pocket square, as it was the color they had chosen for the decorations.

At the party he had danced with most of the free women and a few less, such as Molly Weasley who had fled after a few steps. He had flirted in French with the ladies of the bride's family and abandoned them after the hand kiss.

He had recently discovered that while he was dead Bill had passed under Greyback's claws, the souvenir clearly visible to all, and that Molly would be sure that Fleur would then cancel the wedding. Only then had Molly discovered what the girl was made of; not for nothing had she been among the champions of the Triwizard Tournament.

It was a nice evening to be in the middle of a war. He just hoped it would last.

They had disguised Harry with Polyjuice Potion making him yet another carrot hair around and Sirius had almost forgotten what he looked like. After yet another dance, he sat down to enjoy the scene of the newlyweds looking at each other as if there was no one else. Ah, being young and in love in the middle of a war. Sirius hadn't been very good at it, on the first lap and on the second he was crushed at the start.

Before giving time for his demons to suffocate him, the twins walked past him and he found himself smiling automatically.

"Guys, do not sabotage the cake, understood?" he warned them

"Who?" "We?" "But we would never do such a thing" "Yeah, who did you take us for?"

"Not the cake, please," he insisted and the two snorted.

"You are boring since you resurrected"

"You will pay for this later, without haste"

He was surprised by the amused laughter of someone to his right. It was yet another redhead, but he recognized it. He was the second of the Weasleys' notable offspring, Charlie, who had been best man for his older brother.

"Those two listen to you, it's amazing," he commented with a rather shocked expression.

“I've given them too many insights into how to do damage. I see myself in them more than it seems plausible and then I was able to recognize them even before the ear, which is always a plus, I guess, ”he said as he toyed with a napkin.

“They have always been this one entity…. They've opened a joke shop and they're doing fine, in the middle of a war, who would have thought that, ”Charlie said from across the table.

“People need to be distracted, to ease the tension. Anyway I think we haven't been introduced, tonight I'm Sirius Red, usually the color is another. You are Charlie, right? " he said offering him his hand. He had glimpsed him the previous evening, before he had to run away.

"Your fame precedes you, especially with my mother," the redhead commented and Sirius grinned.

“Ah Molly, did she recommended you to keep your distance? That woman hates me, she says I'm a bad influence. Would you believe it?" he said jokingly and managing to make him smile.

"I don't know how negatively we can still be influenced, to be honest," he admitted and Sirius had to agree. Indeed, none of the brothers he had known had embarked on a trivial career.

"By the way, Harry told me you work with dragons in Romania." Charlie looked ready for impact, clearly used to negative comments, but Sirius smiled. "It's the coolest career I've ever heard. Godric, why didn't I think about it? "

A heated discussion ensued in which Sirius was surprised to remember much more than he imagined about dragons and Charlie was surprised at the other's genuine interest accompanied by pertinent questions.

From dragons they moved on to music and continued with more, sitting closer and closer to talk and laugh.

"Ahahaha and what did he say?" Sirius had tears in his eyes from how much he had laughed.

“At that point he was so pissed off he couldn't even speak. He simply shouted 'Weasley Punishment!' while everyone else laughed. It was his first year and we were bad, but I wasn't even a student of his, Potions has never particularly interested in me. My brothers told me that he has always had an unscrupulous hatred for Gryffindors and I think it was also my merit ”he concluded with some pride, scratching his temple. He had extremely blue eyes and Sirius had noticed when the young man had changed places, going to sit next to him.

"I'm sorry, but that's my doing," Sirius explained, equally pleased.

"Such as?"

"Not only mine, mostly I did my part, but we were in school together," he revealed and then took a sip of champagne. It was the good one, omage of the Delacour family.

"Godric," Charlie exclaimed in shock.

"Oh yes, we made him go through all the colors and he always gave back abundantly"

"He never made a good impression on me, there were some of my classmates who would die for him, but personally I have never seen anything good in him"

"Come on Charlie, don't make me vomit, let's talk about something else" the young man laughed heartily and then looked around, as if to give himself a moment and regroup his thoughts.

"What are your projects?" he asked, and Sirius was surprised.

"My projects?"

"Well, you're alive, but the wizarding world still believes you dead, I would say you have a considerable advantage"

Sirius wished he had some great answers, but the reality was nothing special.

“At the moment I don't even have a place to live, I'm on my cousin's sofa. Actually I should get my ideas together and decide what to do ”especially if Harry decided that he didn't wanted him with them.

"I'm going back to Romania in a month, both for work and for the Order" the redhead took a deep breath "If you want to see how things are going there, I wouldn't mind a little company"

Sirius was stunned. He really did not expect this.

"Think about it," Charlie added before getting up and walking away.

Sirius was still trying to figure out if Charlie Weasley had just hit on him or not when Kingsley Shacklebolt's Patronus slipped inside the tent, stopping all the celebrations.

“The Ministry has fallen. Scrimgeour is dead. They are coming "

In an instant it was hell. Sirius caught the eye of Remus, who hadn't been watching all evening, but whose every move he had been noticing, and the man nodded to Harry and his friends.

Wand in hand he dived towards them, dodging guests who fled. He glanced at Remus and Tonks who remained fighting, but continued. Harry was more important.

"Grimmauld Place" he yelled at Granger who had already grabbed Ron by the hand, Sirius grabbed Harry by the shoulders and before the boy understood what was happening, they had materialized in front of the door of that evil cave.

They entered without wasting time and sat in the living room causing a cloud of dust to rise.

“I would say that from now on it is open war. You are ready, right? " he said glancing at Hermione, once he had given them time to catch their breath. The girl nodded, pointing to a beaded handbag that clashed with her dress.

"Have you decided if you want me with you?" he asked Harry. He had offered his help and then left him alone, giving him a couple of days to think.

"Dumbledore said-" he began, but Sirius cut him off.

"Dumbledore is dead"

"You were too until last week," Harry replied. For some reason that sentence hurt, but he ignored it.

“But now I'm here, for you. The decision is up to you, but I want you to think about it. If you decide not to make me come, know that I will still help you in any way. Now, what do you know about these horcruxes? "

The three looked at each other, trying to figure out which of the three had spoken.

“None of you three have betrayed your secret. I talked to RAB, Regulus Arcturus Black "

It was one of the first things he and his brother had talked about when he died. Reg had explained to him how and why he had died and Sirius had hugged him.

"Regulus?" Harry asked in shock.

"My brother"

"But is he not…?" Ron began, but Sirius cut him off.

"Dead? Oh yeah, but like Harry said, I was too until five days ago, so… ”He shrugged and sat in the chair lifting another cloud of dust. The little progress made at that house had clearly disappeared altogether.

“How many do you think he has? Reg said he had studied them and that it's really absurd that he has a lot of them, ”he asked.

“For now we know of three: the ring, the diary and the locket. Two destroyed, but we still don't know where the third is, ”explained Hermione who was sitting on a puff.

"I guess you have the copy, right?"

Harry nodded and handed him the locket. Inside was also a message from Regulus, always so pretentious. It gave him a breath of melancholy.

"I remember something like this when we got rid of some junk that was in this house." He tried to smooth his beard, but found only his cheeks shaved. He remembered the red hair and turned it back to its natural color. Harry's face had started to move too, becoming his again.

There was only one living being who could help them find the locket. Bollocks.

"He must have hidden somewhere to spy on us," he muttered to himself. "I wonder if he's yours now or mine again." He had also promised Reg that he wouldn't do anything to him and he was already regretting it.

Kreacher was still Harry's, but the elf still felt a wave of terror when he saw his old master there. Sirius didn't even waste time insulting him.

"Answer your new master and let's hurry," he said hastily.

That cheap thief Mundungus had taken the locket, and with Dobby's help, Kreacher managed to get it to Grimmauld Place. It took them a few days to track him down, but Sirius was quite surprised at the two elves' work.

The man had looked at him with terror in his eyes and Sirius had grinned as only the Blacks could. Once their information exchange was over, the animagus Obliviated him.

"We can't risk him talking to anyone, both about the locket and about me." Sirius believed there was a reason his brother had given him a mask and for once, he wanted to follow the advice given. Moreover, if Umbridge knew they were looking for the locket in her possession, they would have been in serious trouble. "He deserves death for what he did to Alastor, but that will have to suffice," he said, leaving him to the two house elves who took him back to where they found him.

"Are you good with Obliviation spells?" he heard Hermione ask.

"No"

-

"Infiltrating the ministry won't be easy at all," he said starting to reason, but Harry cut him off.

"Only the three of us will go," Harry announced and Sirius was quick to fight back, but the boy stopped him. "Dumbledore gave us three this mission and no one else and then the Order needs all the people available" and Sirius stopped. Merlin how good he had become at restraining himself, he was surprised every single time.

"At least let's first decide what to do together"

All four talked for a long time, trying to put together a plan that didn't end up in a complete wreck, but the room for maneuver was very little.

They decided the smartest thing to do would be to carefully decide and monitor who to use to infiltrate the Ministry, and they took their time to do so.

Sirius hated having to stay in that house, he could only sleep in it like Padfoot and his mother's screams certainly didn't help. Furthermore, the house was guarded by Death Eaters and as a twist of fate, the only one who could leave Grimmauld Place was him.

In the form of a dog he would sneak out of the back and reappear several streets away. He shopped in Muggle stores, carefully observing other customers and imitating them so he didn't look like a lunatic, and then materialized what he bought directly in the house. He then entered the same way he had used to exit.

He had just snuck in from the back window and was heading for the kitchen, but stopped when he heard the guys talking to someone.

"Just to be clear," he heard Harry say, "You want to leave Tonks at her parents' house and come with us?"

Good Godric. It could only be one jerk.

"She'll be safe, they'll take care of her." His indifferent tone was one of the most pathetic things Sirius had heard in the last few years, but he still wasn't done "Harry, I'm sure James would have wanted me to stay with you" Really ?

“Well, I don't. I'm pretty sure my father would have liked to know why you don't want to stay with your son "

There was a pause in which Sirius thought about getting in, but he really wanted one last taste of the man's idiocy.

"You don't understand," he began

"Then explain." Ah, Harry really gave him great satisfactions.

“I made a big mistake marrying Tonks. It was a hasty choice and I have regretted it a lot since then "

"So your plan is to leave her and the baby and run away with us?"

At that point Moony launched into a dramatic monologue that squeezed his heart, but also made him want to smash his face.

Meanwhile Harry seemed perfectly capable of handling the man and Sirius was tempted to let him continue, but the two began to get upset and when they were about to pull out the wands he preferred to intervene.

"First of all, if i was a Death Eater you would all be very dead at this point, minus forty points to Gryffindor," he said without even a hint of hilarity.

"Pads," Remus began, but Sirius glared at him before he could continue.

"And second, you really have the nerve to ask a boy whose parents sacrificed themselves to keep him alive, who doesn't even know what his father's voice is, to justify leaving your wife and your son? You really fell low.” His voice was a poisonous hiss and the werewolf flared up.

"You do not understand!" he yelled at him and at that point he too lost the last crumbs of patience. He wasn't that good.

“I'm the only one who can really understand! And so does a smart and intelligent witch who for some absurd reason has fallen in love with a cowardly imbecile who has always hidden behind a big sack of fleas! And instead of thanking any known deity, are you going to abandon her ?! "

"How can you not understand?" he asked desperately with tears in his eyes and Sirius had to force himself to keep from melting. He gritted his teeth and continued.

“I understand you have to go back to Tonks and beg. You made a choice, take responsibility for it. Harry's right, you're a coward "

Remus started to draw his wand, but Sirius was on him with all four legs and dropped it from his hand. Padfoot dragged him out of the kitchen, sinking his teeth into his arm and transforming himself halfway.

Remus shoved him off violently, sending him against the painting of his mother who started yelling insults, called his wand to him with an Accio and left.

"You both have exaggerated," Hermione commented, Ron seemed to agree with her. Harry and Sirius looked at each other.

“Parents should never abandon their children. Unless they have to, ”Harry said, and Sirius found nothing to add but nod.

He badly needed to brush his teeth.

After Sirius and Harry had calmed down, the three kids explained the useful things Remus had said before he started vomiting bullshits and Sirius had the horrible feeling that it wasn't like the first time, it was worse. On the first round at least they had never touched Hogwarts.

On the first of September, the Prophet announced that Severus Snape would be the new headmaster of Hogwarts, the next day the boys would infiltrate the Ministry.

He tried to persuade Harry again to let him accompany them, but it was useless. Sirius knew this would be the last time he'd see them for a long time. Once out of there he would have to run away, hide, but by now he had become a professional at it. He just hoped that those three would also quickly learn how to do it and without a comfortable dog disguise.

"Take these," he said, handing Hermione a bag of galleons and a bundle of muggle bills.

“This is Polyjuice. I don't know after today how much you will have left, but here is some hair more or less your size, just in case ”he said, handing her a leather case that contained the remaining doses and carefully cataloged hair.

He turned to Harry.

"In case of emergency, send a Patronus, okay?"

Harry nodded and Sirius hugged him, burying his face in his shoulder.

“I'm proud of you, Harry. If you need help, tell the watch. I will find you, I promise "

Before the group could leave, Sirius added wards to the house by inserting their magical signatures among the ones that could enter. He hugged Harry again and patted the other two on the back.

Sirius understood them, at their age he certainly would not have wanted McGonagall to babysit him on a mission entrusted to him by Dumbledore himself, but there was still the sting of disappointment that bothered his side.

He found himself alone in that house, not knowing what to do or where to go.

For a moment his thoughts drifted to Remus, but then he remembered his pathetic scene and froze.

He was alone.

_I wouldn't mind a little company_ , Charlie had said.

_Nor would I_ , he thought as he left the house behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes:  
> If you've made it this far, you deserve a golden snitch each.  
> Approximately, this will be the length of all chapters, more or less  
> They are quite long, especially by my standards, but that's how we roll.  
> "Audax at fidelis” is a true motto, but it's not Potter's. I searched the internet for "Latin mottos" until I came up with one that I liked. I thought it felt right.  
> The next chapter…. Romania!  
> Be good, and wash your hands  
> The Cactus Incident
> 
> HI, just wanted to remind everyone that this isn't my original work and if you know Italian I'll highly recommend to read the original, it is published under the same name and I'm sure it's better.  
> Thanks for reading, the geeky girl.


	3. 02

The situation in Romania was not what Sirius would have expected.

Their magical community was very different from England; wizards and witches hid much less, the muggles, whom they called _Încuiat_ , still believed in magic and often asked wizards for help, but their magic was also extremely different from what Sirius knew.

Romania did not have a big school like Hogwarts or Beauxbaton in France and the young people were educated at home by people who had been educated at home and so on; only a very few decided to go to Durmstrang in Scandinavia.

Their spells were different, much longer and more complex, but also much more powerful. There was also a good deal of what in England would be called the Dark Arts, but it was perfectly normal for them to use blood in their spells.

Their society was not so sharply separated from Muggle society, and having a Muggle born was a blessing that the families took great pride in. They had other problems, but at least on this aspect they all lived easly.

Sirius had always been fascinated by the way of harnessing magic in other cultures, there were places in the world where wands were not used or where being an animagus was almost normal and if maybe Sirius had had some of those spells explained, what harm was there?

The language barrier was pretty funny, but there were ways around it.

The fluidity of their society, however, also meant that finding other wizards was far more complicated as they were everywhere and nowhere. There were a few meeting points only for wizards and they were only known by word of mouth.

Sirius had also taken up work at the dragon sanctuary, more for fun than for profit as no one would ever get rich doing the job, but it was extremely interesting. Handling dragons without intending to tear them apart included an exorbitant amount of _stupefy_ , flame retardant clothing , and a whole other set of spells useful only in that specific area.

Sirius was not on holiday in Romania, let's make it clear. He was doing work for the Order, continuing to contact people who could join the cause, following and knocking out Voldemort's followers, carrying out deadly missions in disguise or with the now faithful wolf dog mask, and was constantly in contact with Harry.

He still hadn't had to intervene up to that point, but there had been problems between Ron and the other two and the boy had left the mission. He had offered to go as a replacement, but Harry had explained that they were so far from any solution that it would be useless to reach them.

But Sirius also had to admit that he was enjoying it. He loved working with dragons alongside Charlie - it was exciting, dangerous and exhilarating, just his cup of tea, to be honest .

The shelter was so large that it was divided into blocks in which they spent several days camped in special tents that the dragons were unable to recognize and consequently tear apart.

They had a rather complicated day with a female Longhorn who had tried to stab Charlie several times because the boy was trying to visit her young.

Sirius had to act as a diversion and was relatively unharmed. He had a big scratch on his arm, but nothing major.

They had just finished and Sirius had returned to the tent to clean up and heal his arm. He had dropped his shirt on the table and was looking at the scratch in the mirror. And only then did he notice something that had escaped him. How had it managed to not realize for four months?

The tattoo on his left chest was different. It was quite similar to what he had drawn years ago, but it was a completely different rune. He had no idea what it meant, it was a large X in the center of a circle of smaller runes. Who knows what the heck it meant ...

He was still staring at himself puzzled, at least trying to interpret the surrounding runes when he was interrupted by Charlie.

"Do you need help?" he offered. Up until now, Sirius had always healed himself or had he patched up the others.

"It depends on how good you are," he said, putting aside his guesswork about his tattoos. He wasn't the type to panic in front of others.

“After six years that I lead this life? I'm exceptional, they could hire me at St. Mungo "

Sirius smiled in amusement and sat down on the edge of the table while Charlie immediately approached him and got to work. He stood looking at him for a while, but silence was not his strong point.

"Do you want to hear a joke?" he said after a while.

"Always" the other quietly replied without raising his head.

“I am a Field Healer. Certified, ”he said quietly.

It wasn't like being a full-fledged Healer, but it was something he was quite proud of. It had been an idea recommended to him by Madam Pomfrey; seeing as he and his folks spent so much time in the infirmary, a bit like patients a bit like entertainers, and in between Sirius had begun to lend a hand, more out of boredom than anything else.

The animagus refused to leave his werewolf friend alone and Madam Pomfrey had begun to leave him the potions to give to Remus that Sirius forced him to swallow without making a fuss; from then on the woman had given him other tasks, more and more complicated and had taught him to heal wounds first on pumpkins and then on dead prey that would serve as dinner for some new animal of Hagrid.

By the end of the seventh year, she had given him a list of books and put him in contact with St Mungos and in the summer of '80 Sirius had taken the qualification. It had served him more than he would have preferred.

"I really wouldn't have expected this," Charlie said in surprise

"It's because I don't look reassuring, I realize that," he shrugged

"I would use many other adjectives to describe you" replied the redhead with an eloquent smile.

There was an obvious tension between them, a good one, that Sirius hadn't felt in a long time.

Charlie was young and handsome too. He had broad shoulders, thick red hair and crystal clear eyes. He was covered in scars, which Sirius had always liked, and freckles, which he had come to like, and he shamelessly hit on him.

This had been going on for nearly three months and perhaps he should have warned him, being the more mature of the two, but when the redhead wedged his leg between his, Sirius didn't feel mature at all.

His arm was healed, but there were really a few inches between them and if he wanted to, he could have blamed the adrenaline and the years of loneliness and Time Out in limbo, but the real reason was that he just wanted it.

He closed the distance between them and Charlie sighed in satisfaction, the tension broken, the wish fulfilled.

The dark-haired one wrapped an arm around his back, pushing his hand into the hollow of his spine and the redhead made a complacent sound against his lips as he intertwined his arms behind his neck. It was so… intoxicating. How long had he not given a kiss? Godric, he couldn't remember it.

They kissed for a long time and when they separated Charlie rested his chin on his shoulder.

"Happy birthday," he said and then kissed him on the cheek and Sirius laughed heartily. That sentence was more surprising than the kiss.

"How do you know it's my birthday?"

"The twins sent you a package this morning while you were in the shower, but we left in such a hurry that I forgot to bring it"

"Your gift was superior"

“This is only the first part. We can continue once we are back at the base "

"I'm counting on it"

-

"How good is your French?" Charlie asked. He layed with his head resting on Sirius' thigh while the other quietly smoked, a sheet to cover the bare minimum.

They returned to base three days later. Sirius had found a small tower of three gifts all addressed to “P. Noir ”which apparently stood for Padfoot. He wondered whose idea it was, since they all bore the same recipient.

He and Charlie had gone back to the apartment they shared, had given each other proper shower time (separately), and then had launched themselves over each other and onto the nearest bed together.

He hadn't been particularly suave or easygoing, but they'd laughed together and both had come, so Sirius considered it a success.

"Very well, unfortunately," he replied quietly. While playing with Charlie's damp hair he found a scar on his scalp, quite large, maybe he would ask him later.

"Unfortunately?" he asked amused, stealing his cigarette.

“ _Toujours pur_ , those Black fanatics are of French origin, there is also the Black Manor, somewhere in Provence, a beautiful place honestly, a whole other world than that ghoul den I grew up in in London. Technically my first language is French, that's what we spoke at home "

"Wow, Grandma never mentioned it," Charlie commented absently

"Wha - oh good Godric, Cedrella Black, how could I forget Cedrella?" Sirius buried his face in his hands. Was it possible that he had forgotten one of his companions 'holes in the wall, traitors to his own blood, shame of the family' etc.?

"Yeah, but if I had to explain how we're related, I have no idea"

"Your great-grandfather Arcturus and my great-grandfather Sirius were brothers," Sirius replied automatically, the family tree printed on his retina. The Blacks had a total of four names that they used in rotation and without particular imagination.

"I'd say we're honoring the family, right?" Charlie said and Sirius couldn't help but laugh.

"Oh, my mother would be delighted, I assure you"

“Anyway, what I wanted to ask you is if you would like to come to France with me. There is a rescue organized for the first half of December, before they make a dragon egg omelette or sell them to some mad purist who thinks they can tame a dragon, and we might take the opportunity to visit a couple of my old school companions and test which side they are on "

"Of course I'd like to," he said honestly

"Especially since all my French consists of some bad word I heard Fleur say"

"Admit it Weasley, you only need me as a translator"

"Nah, you're also a pretty sight ... as long as you shut up"

"Brat"

"Antiques"

"Vintage, thank you," he replied with all the haughtiness worthy of a Black that Charlie found hilarious and Sirius followed him laughing as well.

-

"Have you ever been to France?" he asked absently as they reached the house they had rented.

It was cold and there were very few people on the street, but he felt quite calm.

He hadn't realized, up to that point, that he was quite happy to be back in France. They were a long way from Provence and the few places he knew, but it was still nice to be back and that surprised him.

“I've been to Belgium a couple of times,” Charlie replied as he checked the house numbers.

"Ah, that doesn't count, Belgium is the neighbor that those around pretend not to have"

"Are you an expert?" he asked sarcastically and Sirius shrugged.

“Every summer, until I was thirteen, we went to the Black Manor. It was always full of people, of parties, many seemed almost normal, not like my parents” he said absently recalling the summers spent playing in the immense gardens with the other children trying not to be mangled by the peacocks.

Who knows what had become of everything.

"When I was sorted into Gryffindor, my father tried to make me change schools and enroll me in Beauxbatons, better a school without houses than having a child in the wrong one" he explained amused.

"I don't think he succeeded"

“We pleaded with McGonagall who spoke to Dumbledore. My father was told that the Sorting Hat verdict was a binding contract. I don't know if this is true, but in any case that was the end of it "

"What would have been of the Marauders if you would have left?" Charlie asked theatrically, surprising him.

"What exactly do you know about the Marauders?"

"The twins must have learnt from someone, don't you think?"

Sirius smiled and was silent for a while. They managed to find the house and after settling down, Sirius began communicating with Harry. The mirror they had used to talk when he was locked in Grimmauld Place was gone, again thanks to Mundungus, but they had remedied with a pair of Vanishind Boxes in which they left notes and with which they had communicated up to that moment. It wasn't like the mirrors, but it was the best Sirius had managed to find over the past month in London as they found their way into the Ministry.

"What does Harry say?" Charlie asked as he lit the fire. He knew this rather spectacular spell, in which he blew on the tip of the wand and it emitted a remarkable flame. He had shyly confided to him that he had found it in a tome at Hogwarts and had learned it for the simple fact that it made him feel like a dragon. Sirius had found it adorable and had asked to be taught it.

“He is having strange dreams. And he's considering going to Godric's Hollow "

"Have you ever been back?"

"No," he said abruptly and his companion no longer asked about it.

-

The eggs rescue had gone well. They had had to reach a clearing in what the locals called the _Forêt de la petit_ rouge , a magical forest where few ventured, even among wizards.

Sirius had had to talk to poachers for more than half an hour, a woman he had initially mistaken for a man made such a vulgar gesture that even he was surprised, but in the end they managed to have both eggs in their possession.

“They won't hatch for at least another three weeks. We have plenty of time to complete the mission, ”Charlie explained as he carefully studied the eggs in front of a special dragonfire lantern.

Sirius watched in fascination as the hard-looking shell, similar to a stone, became semi-transparent, a still shapeless shape in the center, held to the shell by thin filaments. For the transport they had brought special boxes capable of adapting to the size of each single egg and softed shocks and tossing.

They paid handsomely the two poachers and then began looking for the way back. Disapparating successfully in a magical forest was completely impossible, and the tracking and guidance spells worked little and badly. And if it was a particularly spiteful forest, it would have been able to change the path to it's liking and make time flow differently.

There was a reason if only few bothered with magical forests, but they would find a way. Fortunately, there was a path they had taken to reach the poachers and it would have been enough to retrace it in reverse to return to the point where they had entered, forest permitting.

"But, has the sun set already?" Charlie asked in surprise as he pulled out his wand to cast a _Lumos_ .

“Magic Forest. This one makes Hogwarts Forbidden Forest look like a playground by comparison. ”It seemed wilder, more magical, almost sentient. It reminded him of Grimmauld Place, the same extreme magical charge, he couldn't wait to get out of that place.

Some higher entity must have had an extremely distorted sense of humor as, a moment later, it gave Sirius a real reason to leave the forest as quickly as possible.

There was a sound, extremely recognizable, and his blood ran cold.

"Have you heard? There must be at least four ”he let out in a sigh. If they had heard them ...

"Wolves?" Charlie asked, almost indifferent, but was quickly realizing that Sirius' concern was not unfounded.

“Oh no. This is much much worse. Holy shit it's 14th "

Behind them and on both sides, two to the left. They must have been within a mile or so, and Sirius knew perfectly well that when they noticed them (because it was only a matter of when) they would be on them in a matter of minutes.

"The full moon," said Charlie who understood what kind of situation they were in.

"We're in a lot of trouble," he sighed in the lowest possible volume. If the wind changed ...

"The motorcycle is out of the question," reasoned his companion. Sirius could have transformed, but Charlie?

“With all this magic it would explode. Okay I have an idea, ”he said, reviewing the spell in his mind. If he hurried it could work.

"I'm all ears," Charlie urged

"I am extremely sorry"

"For what?"

"This"

Sirius had always been an ace in Transfiguration, it wasn't too difficult to turn Charlie into a cat, but he still felt a little guilty. He transformed into Padfoot and, holding him by the scruff, he ran away. He started running in the direction they had come from, following the path and hoping the forest would not change its mind.

The wind turned and brought their scent to the attention of two of the four werewolves who were immediately behind. Padfoot ran like he had never run in his entire life, but he couldn't compete with a pack of wolves. They would die, he knew.

The wolves separated and encircled him, getting closer and closer until he had no more direction to escape, forcing him into a clearing.

The four wolves circled around him, one was a female.

Could it have been the poachers? He couldn't say for sure, but if he did, the plan was flawless. Money and eggs. Obviously they hadn't taken into account the animagus factor, which transfigured clothes and belongings.

They would recover the eggs from their corpses; once they died they would both transform back. Charlie the Cat was hiding between his front paws and blowing in the direction of the four wolves.

Instinct told him to flatten himself to the ground and put his tail between his legs, but he was going to die anyway, wolfish etiquette or not, he might as well die with his head held high.

It would hurt so much, it wouldn't even be a good way to leave. And Harry, poor Harry ...

The first wolf broke away from the circle and approached him, slowly, until he had his big pale head next to his, growling softly.

_Come on, at least don't make me wait_ .

He was about to take a bite on his neck, Sirius could see him in the loaded muscles of his neck, ready to snap, but the movement stopped before his teeth could sink into the dog.

He felt his breath ripple his fur for a moment, motionless, and then instead of biting him, the wolf howled as if he had been hurt and jumped away several meters, still crying. The other wolves looked from the dog to their companion and another tried to attack him head down and Padfoot felt his wet nose brush his shoulder, but the second wolf ran away crying too.

The other two, given the results of the rest of the pack, began to fidget from a distance, but all had their tails between their legs.

They were afraid of him.

Padfoot didn't stay long enough to ask, he grabbed the cat between his teeth again and started running. He was quite surprised when he didn't hear them chasing him, in fact, the wolves started fighting with each other.

At the noises of the quarrel Padfoot did not even dare to try to look over his shoulder, he kept running and when he finally recognized the field they had crossed, outside the village, he began to see the light at the end of the tunnel. He didn't know if the werewolves were able to leave the forest, but he certainly wouldn't stay to check.

The red cat he held in his mouth scratched him several times but he pretended nothing happened. Charlie wasn't in control of the transformation, he was just scared.

He kept running and slowed only when he got close to the house. He transformed into a human, holding Charlie in his arms who continued to scratch him and meow menacingly, but decided to enter before transforming him back.

He placed him on the sofa and once he was human again, the boy was shocked for several minutes, breathing hard, unsure where he was and even who. It wasn't a good feeling, he knew.

"Charlie, do you remember where you are?" he asked cautiously.

Red cleared his throat several times and looked closely at his hands. Sirius sat nearby, waiting for him to recover.

“My name is Charles Septimius Weasley, we're in France and we just survived… holy shit,” he finally replied as he felt his head, fingers carefully tracing the shape of his ears.

"Well. Sorry, but there was no other way ”he justified himself and the other nodded energetically.

"This is an experience that I would rather never repeat"

"I understand, but it was the safest way to get away"

"And not Apparating?"

“In that forest? We would have ended up scattered everywhere "

They were silent for a long time. Charlie wasn't one to get scared easily, he worked with dragons for living, but he still looked pretty worn out by the evening.

"Uff, that was really weird"

"I know"

“Is that so in the beginning? For the animagus? " Ah, Sirius thought he was talking about werewolves.

"Yes and no. It's very scary, the world is completely different, smells, sounds, colors, but when you are an animagus a tiny part has to remember that you are human, otherwise you can't transform yourself again "

There had been times in Azkaban when he passed weeks, sometimes months, like Padfoot, and every now and then he was seized with the panic that he could not become human again; at other times it seemed almost a blessing. The canine mind is unable to process guilt, regret or contempt.

The greatest fear, however, remained that of returning to human while he slept and finding the dementors on him before becoming aware. And if Azkaban knew how to do one thing, it was realizing all your fears.

Seeing as Charlie seemed to have calmed down, Sirius took care of the scratches he had m, then poured himself a whiskey and sat down on the sofa next to him.

"Your hearing isn't human, is it?" the other asked after a while, surprising him. He didn't think he would have noticed.

“Not for a long time, now. Before I died I had also become almost color blind, like dogs, but apparently the afterlife has given me back my colors, ”he said sarcastically before taking a sip. Charlie was still groping himself, as if to make sure it was all right and Sirius certainly couldn't blame him.

"You act a bit like a dog every now and then," he said jokingly and Sirius laughed suddenly. It wasn't that fun, but he was still full of adrenaline.

"I have a passion for postmen"

"The what?"

"A muggle joke, dont' worry about it" the muggle jokes were the brainchild of Remus and Lily and even after all that time, occasionally a few came out.

“Anyway, thanks. If you hadn't been there at this point I would have been mangled by four werewolves "

"Or more likely you would have become the fifth of the gang," he commented honestly. How could he be so stupid as to forget about the full moon? He had always been careful. It was one thing to manage Moony who adored Padfoot, another was to be up against four unknown werewolves.

"Do you think the bite would take on you?"

“In all honesty, I don't think so. The wolf becomes a real presence in the mind of the infected. Sometimes it's more insistent, sometimes less, but it's not just something you turn into once a month. My animal side is already wide awake, if I were to be bitten I would probably have an anaphylactic shock or something similar and die. Obviously it's just a theory that I don't want to test "

At Hogwarts Moony had hurt them all at some point. None of them had been bitten, but just a scratch would have been enough to pass some aspects of lycanthropy to a human, as had happened to Bill Weasley; instead none of the three animagi had ever shown symptoms, only a few scars resistant to the dictamnus.

Charlie was silent for a while, his gaze on the full moon visible outside the window. It had been a stupid mistake to go to such a place, Sirius never lost track of the moon phase, instead he got distracted, absorbed in the dragons and France and they were almost killed.

"Sirius, what happened in that forest?" he finally asked. He would have expected it to be the first question the other would ask him.

"I have no idea"

“It was as if they were afraid of you. Have you ever met other werewolves? "

"Besides Remus, I once met Fenrir Greyback, but never during the full moon, this was the first time"

Usually people couldn't even say they met one, let alone a whole bunch and come out perfectly unscathed, just terrified.

"I know it's not my place to ask, but ..." Charlie began and Sirius already knew where he was going. It had lasted four months before asking him, he had to give credit.

"Do you want to know what was between me and Remus too?"

“I thought you were going to stay and help your friend, but at the first opportunity to walk away, you did. Not that it bothers me, far from it, but I didn't think you would've accept "

He looked at the glass in his hand, ran his thumb over the edge a couple of times before answering.

“I was clearly one too many. He went on, he rebuilt his life. I certainly can't blame him if I died and somehow came back. Besides, Tonks is a great person, she gets it, and when she needs it she doesn't let him go on with his bullshit and Remus definitely needs someone to put a stop to his paranoia. The best thing I could do was step aside and not mess around, ”he explained, continuing to stare at the glass.

“Can I say I never expected it from you? No offense, ”Charlie admitted and Sirius smiled slightly.

“Me neither, honestly. Maybe if he had chosen a fool to marry I would have had to object, but Tonks is smart, 'Dromeda raised her well ... and even if it costs me to admit, she is definitely a better choice than me "

"She's a good person and so are you," he said with conviction and Sirius softened a bit.

"Ohw Weasley, but you're biased"

“I don't know, she is one of my best friends. We were at Hogwarts together and, if you want to know, you have exactly the same tastes "

What…? Good Godric.

"You and Tonks?" he asked shocked and the redhead nodded

"An attempt, before admitting that girls are not for me"

"And you have remained friends?"

"Yupp"

"Thanks Charlie, I really don't know what to do with this information" he muttered sarcastically and the other laughed freely.

“A few digs? It doesn't bother me "

"Ah, I knew I made a good choice"

"I'm a great choice, thank you," he said mimicking the haughty tone he often put on and Sirius couldn't help but kiss him. After a while Charlie broke away from him, leaving Sirius to stretch up, searching for his lips and with them everything else.

"Where are you going?" he asked when he saw him get up from the sofa.

"To the kitchen. I want canned tuna "

-

The new year had begun without particular fanfare, their life had continued almost undisturbed between dragons and missions for the Order that occasionally had led Sirius to leave.

The first few months had gone smoothly, Sirius and Charlie followed each evening in religious silence, quietly counting how many people they knew were dying and thanking the heavens whenever the names of their loved ones were not said.

They weren't always lucky, some nights had been worse than others, like when Ted Tonks had been on the list of victims, but Sirius could only be grateful that he didn't have to digest the news alone.

Remus's birthday had come very quickly and had passed; Sirius had been tempted to write him to ask about the absurd encounter with the pack of werewolves that he had escaped unharmed, but he held back and ignored his birthday.

In a few days it would be James' birthday, when his best friend would not have celebrated thirty-eight years. Who knows why, when he remembered James's birthday, he realized that they weren't actually old, perhaps because his best friend, his brother, had never celebrated beyond twenty-first.

He had just woken up, he didn't have to work or go get killed that day. Charlie was in the shower singing some horrible muggle pop song and Sirius was still in bed, which was unusual for him, but pleasant.

He looked at his watch to see what time it was, but as soon as he touched it it became hot, almost incandescent.

"Harry?"

_"How much do you think it is worth?"_

_“I don't know, but it's a nice piece. As soon as we leave here you can try to resell it "_

Someone had taken the watch, someone who was not the rightful owner.

He threw himself out of bed, dressing as he yelled at Charlie that Harry needed him. The boy came out of the bathroom just as Sirius slipped on his jacket and put the shrunken motorcycle in his pocket. He had stopped abandoning her around.

"Say hello to the dragons for me" was the only thing he managed to say.

Charlie nodded silently. He had a worried expression, but there was also something akin to pride on his face.

Before he could think too much, he left the building, not caring what awaited him.

The first thing he and James had done, once they received both watches for their seventeenth year, was to open them up and insert a complicated network of spells, including a tracking one. Times were what they were and precautions were never enough. Until the watch was destroyed, the one on his wrist would guide Sirius to join the other, hoping he was still in Harry's vicinity.

He found himself disappointed in himself when he was surprised at the destination. Disgusting elitists.

The Malfoy Manor was among the largest and most lavish in the wizarding world. Sirius had only been there once, at Cissy's wedding to that greasy head of Lucius Malfoy, the last mundane event before he left the Blacks, but it was such a large place it would take hours to find them. And that if they were in the main building.

He was considering the best place to enter when someone apparated beside him.

"Sirius Black!" he very narrowly did not incinerate the poor elf on the spot, but he recognized him just in time.

"Dobby? You're the last friendly face I would have expected around here, ”he said honestly.

"Dobby is here to help Harry Potter," he explained with conviction

"Me too, but we must find a way to pass the gates"

“Dobby can go in and out of the Malfoy Manor.” That was good news.

“Oh but that's great. There are two guards on that side. Take us there, behind that bush, and then I'll take care of the rest "

Sirius had the mask again. He had built up a bit of a reputation and it was still okay for him not to let anyone know he came back to life. The ridiculous thing was that because of the mask the opposing faction had taken to calling him the Wolfdog of the Order and he found it sadly ironic.

The animagus motioned to the elf to stay hidden and the other nodded.

He incapacitated the first of the two guards and then attacket the second with an Imperio .

Sirius motioned for Dobby to come closer as the dark wizard answered any questions they had about where they kept the prisoners and where they might find the others, after which Sirius told him to hand him his wand and sleep for the next ten hours and man sat with his back to the wall and began to snore.

"Okay Dobby, let's start from the cellar"

The two materialized inside and Sirius found more people than he expected. Harry took a sigh of relief and Sirius winked at him as he released him.

"Was the mask really necessary?" the piqued boy asked

"You should know that it is resistant to most offensive spells and dragon fire, it's not a trivial matter," he justified, freeing the other prisoners.

They decided, under Ron's advice, that the prisoners would be taken to the Shell Cottage and Dobby began commuting.

"Who's got the watch?" he asked Harry.

“One of the snatchers who brought us here. Is that what you found me with? "

“We'll get it back and yes, I'll explain later. Who is on guard? " he asked Harry

"Wormtail. Hermione is upstairs. With Bellatrix, ”said Ron.

"Shit. Okay, give me a sign when that rat comes "

"Sirius don't-" the boy began, but the godfather interrupted him.

“I've listened to you once about Peter. It was enough "

When the rat arrived, Harry started talking to him anyway and when the man entered the cellar Sirius disarmed him and silenced him before he could scream.

He had the courage to transform himself into a mouse, but Sirius transformed himself, grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and, after banging him animatedly, threw him at the wall. Peter transformed back into human and Sirius was ready to duel, but when the other tried to hide instead of fighting, his left hand, the silver one, strangled him.

Sirius never expected something like this, but he was stunned nonetheless. The concept of fidelity according to Voldemort was something very different from his own.

“Don't tell me you didn't expect a rat's death,” he told him before he passed out.

If there hadn't been Harry and so much more to do, he probably would have stayed until his last breath to make sure the job was finally done. He had to push Harry and Ron away who tried to help him, but they finally got out of the cellar.

“Entering with pointed wands is stupid. Silent side entry, ”he said, handing them the wands he had taken from the guards outside.

“Don't go near Bellatrix. Narcissa is a tough nut to crack, but if you've survived this far it should be doable. Lucius has never been anything much as a dueller, but he knows some nasty curses. Give me time to get to Bella and then join the fray "

They followed the directions Sirius had gotten from the guard, and on their way passed one of the snatchers.

Harry signaled that he had the watch and maybe it was stupid to hang on to a watch at such a time, but he had saved his godson's life and there was no way Sirius would leave it in the hands of that scum.

He silenced him, cut off his hand with a cute Romanian spell that created a blade of fire that greatly limited blood loss and recovered the watch. After two Stupeficium to make sure he wouldn't follow them or warn others, they moved on.

He heard Ron say something of which he only catched "brutal", but Sirius didn't care. If only they had any idea of the things they had to do in the name of the Greater Good.

“Whatever you see, give me time to get close to Bella. It's an order, ”he clarified without lifting his mask and there must be something peculiar in his voice because they looked at him with the same expression they had on when they first met in the Shrieking Shack.

This was no time to try to be reassuring.

Hermione's screams reached them before they entered the room. They had to disarm another snatcher as quietly as possible, but Sirius left the two boys to take care of him and threw himself in coming from the left on Bellatrix.

Her lovely cousin was leaning over Hermione and the girl was crying desperately. The Malfoys were sitting in armchairs a few feet away and before they could even turn around, Sirius was already cursing the woman.

It is possible that he slipped, taking advantage of the smooth marble floors of the estate as he had learned to do as a boy in France, but it is a detail relevant only to his need for triumphal entry.

The Malfoys had risen, but by then Harry had also intervened and Ron and Sirius could concentrate on his cousin.

"Ah little star, revenge?" he instigated her as he continued cursing her and made her turn away from Hermione.

"Scum! How dare you pretend to be a Black ?! " the woman hissed through clenched teeth and Sirius gained ground until he was close to the girl on the ground. He kept hearing her cry, a good sign.

“Ah so now I'm a Black? Not a hole in the wall? "

"He died!" cried the witch

"And yet I'm here," he said, continuing to curse her. 

" _Diffindo_ !" her cousin yelled, but the trajectory was wrong.

Or perhaps very right, the fact is that the curse was not aimed at him.

He dropped to his knees, moved Hermione rather violently and raised a shield, but evidently something went wrong as a stabbing pain invaded his shoulder; he managed just in time to pass the wand into his other hand before it fell.

He wasn't much of a dueller with his non-dominant hand, but he might be able to buy the boys enough time to escape.

He threw a couple of curses on his cousin and also hit the target, but he was very weak and getting up from the ground was too much effort.

His cousin continued to hurt him in the left arm laughing with satisfaction and Sirius found himself on his back to the ground, not far from Hermione.

The witch approached him, the sadistic bastard, and Sirius came up with an unhinged idea.

“You are just a liar! Liar! You just want to piss me off! But now I have fun, let's see who the impostor is ... "

She began to lift his mask, but before she could see his face, Sirius transformed and lunged forward, grabbed her shoulder between his teeth, biting in anger and making her scream in pain, preventing her from walking away.

He released only when she, with her free arm, began to stab his leg, but in the meantime he had also knocked out her dominant arm.

After that point it all got pretty confusing. Harry and Ron dueled with the Malfoys and Padfoot stayed in dog form and bit Lucius' foot just to keep from lying there.

Bella disarmed the boys and threatened Hermione, but Sirius was plummeting too quickly into fainting to figure out exactly what was going on.

Something was happening, he could hear Bella's menacing voice, but he noticed something unusual about the chandelier.

Dobby.

Good Godric.

He managed to roll away just before the crystal chandelier crashed to the ground and someone dragged him around the rest of the room until he was at Ron's feet. He saw a knife fly from her cousin's hand, but by now he had already lost consciousness.

-

Sirius had a strange dream. Or maybe it was a memory.

He was on the beach at sunset. He was lying on a thick blanket and Remus was beside him. The boy was wearing a red T-shirt with a muggle drink logo and had tanned a bit, his scars were iridescent compared to his darkened skin, but he was smiling blissfully, his hair lightened and even curlier because of the salt.

He leaned over to kiss him, but when their lips touched Sirius was engulfed in a searing wave of pain and screamed.

He woke with a start and grabbed whoever was touching him.

"Hey Pads quiet it's me, you're safe" said the reassuring voice of his memory.

"Moony" came out of his throat like a pained cry. Anything hurt.

"Moony" he repeated it several times, perhaps he was still dreaming.

“Ssh, I'll take care of it. Go back to sleep. ”He reassured him and Sirius managed to calm down.

Moony was there, he would be safe.

When he woke up again, Remus was still medicating him, but this time Sirius was more himself.

"If you ran away again, this time I'll kill you, Rem," he emitted hoarsely and the other laughed heartily.

“No, far from it. Stay still that I have not finished. You were in a pretty bad shape, Bella almost severed your shoulder "

"Why are you healing me?"

"I arrived while Bill was trying, but you didn't exactly agree"

"I don't remember." Sirius slowly turned his head to watch him closely as he tied bandages around his thigh.

Someone had forced him to transform back into a human and stripped him. He hoped it had been Remus, he didn't want to further traumatize his godson and his friends.

"Then? What's his name?" he asked after a while trying to smile, he was too confused to understand if he was succeeding. He had countend the months, but he certainly wasn't going to admit it.

"Edward Remus Lupin," he said with some pride and Sirius managed to smile a little better. It was since their fight at Grimmauld Place that he hadn't heard from him. He was definitely better than their last meeting.

"Congratulations"

"I asked Harry to be the godfather," he said healing a myriad of scratches he had on his left side between the stab wounds and burns from the curses. He had crawled on the glass of the chandelier and not even the fur had protected him completely.

"You did well, he's a smart boy"

"It doesn't bother you?" he asked surprised and Sirius was momentarily distracted by a dizzy spell.

Godric, he was in a very bad shape. It took him a few moments to recover.

"Sirius?" Remus called him worried, but he managed to get back to the present.

“Why should it? I thought it was now clear that I am not a great choice as a godfather "he felt his whole mouth tacky with the myriad of potions that he had surely made him swallow when he had passed out" About my shortcomings ... how is Harry? "

"They're taking care of Dobby"

"Why? What happened?" he asked worriedly. He knew how much Harry cared about the elf.

"He got stabbed, he almost lost his arm"

“Oh, poor thing. I really can't imagine what it feels like, ”he said sarcastically

"I'd say making clever jokes counts as a sign of health," Remus decreed and Sirius rolled his eyes but didn't answer. He was tired, he would rest his eyes just for a moment.

A moment apparently was roughly fifteen hours, but once he woke up, he felt quite human. Of course, breathing still hurt, everything hurt, but the throbbing in his temples had lessened and his leg seemed pretty healed. But he still felt disoriented.

He was pretty sure he had taken Fleur and Bill out of their bed, but at the moment he didn't have the strength to feel guilty. The door opened slowly, as if someone wanted to check if he was awake and Harry's black mop peeked out.

"I'm not presentable, but I'm awake," he said with a painful smile. The boy closed the door behind him and went to sit on the edge of the bed.

"How's the shoulder?" he asked immediately.

"it will heal. Remus told me about Dobby "

"He seems pretty excited to have a scar procured while saving his friends"

"It's a fair way of seeing it, I should consider it too," he said jokingly and Harry clearly felt guilty.

"What happened there was ..." he took a couple of deep breaths to keep from crying and Sirius took his hand to encourage him.

"I know we're at war and they're not joking, but the way Bellatrix got on with Hermione, the nastiness with which she kept cursing you even after you were down there ..."

“Bellatrix is a sadistic bastard, there's a reason she's the Dark Lord's favorite and then I've endured even worse, don't worry about me” he didn't know how convincing that could be, but it was worth a try.

"Was your mother like that too?" Harry deduced, his eyes full of tears. Merlin how much he looked like Lily.

"Not at that level, no," she told him and Harry seemed to cheer him up a bit. "The important thing is that you are well, I can stay on the bench for a few days"

“You were lucky that Remus came at the right time. Bill had only managed to transform you back into human, but you were just hurting yourself more. The way Remus came was truly a miracle. He was a bit out of his mind, to be honest, he got dizzy and Bill just grabbed it, I guess having a baby is quite impressive "

"Even having a godson, I can assure you," he said smiling at him and finally Harry seemed calmer too.

"I wasn't expecting that," he confided honestly.

"Nobody ever expects it," he suddenly remembered a detail he had left out. "Oh, by the way… how is Hermione?"

“She'll have a very bad scar,” he said as he rubbed his left hand. Sirius had seen him do this several times before, an involuntary gesture he made when he was worried.

“Tell her the best option to cover it is tattoos and say the same to Dobby, maybe he will launch a fashion among the elves,” he said and finally managed to make him smile.

The man noticed that since the last time he had seen it, all traces of innocence had disappeared from his green eyes and Sirius was surprised that traces of it had survived until then.

“From now on I will stay with you. I understand that the mission has been entrusted to you and you will be the one to make the important decisions, but you are much more important than anything I can do for the Order "he added then and Harry started to argue feebly, but it was clear he was tired and that he would have gladly accepted the help he offered him.

"It could take years," he explained and Sirius shrugged his good shoulder.

"And then it means that we would finally have the opportunity to get to know each other properly"

-

Sirius had been bedridden for two days, which was driving him mad, and had begun to change the color of the curtains intermittently. He had moved into the room with Ollivander and honestly the elder was not a great company, especially after spending a whole year in the Malfoys cellar. Her cousin had really fallen low and wasn't talking about Bellatrix.

When Ollivander was moved to Muriel Prewett's house, his roommate became Griphook the goblin who spent hours staring at him in silence. He wanted to curse him, but Harry had forbidden him.

The three kids spent a lot of time with him planning the next move, trying to keep everything as secret as possible, but it got boring very quickly. Dobby was particularly excited about their complementary scars, but he was already hopping happily around the house, while Sirius's knees were shaking every time he had to make it to the bathroom.

Griphook had momentarily disappeared doing goblin things and the curtains had just turned purple with yellow butterflies flying quietly when the door opened.

"Hey handsome" Charlie was leaning against the door frame, a crooked smile and floo ash still in his hair. Sirius broke into the first spontaneous smile since leaving Romania.

“My favorite Weasley. Are you a hallucination? "

“Do you have many? Should I be jealous? " he asked as he closed the door. On his shoulder he had his bag with the extension spell that Sirius had left in Romania in his haste to catch up with Harry. The boy left it at the foot of the bed.

“You are the only pleasant one. You're back"

"I did everything I could away from home, now it was time to come back and also, I couldn't leave you without underwear" he said sitting down on the bed, near his side "I missed you"

"I missed you too, as you can see my life has clearly worsened since I left you"

"You disappear and I find out that you tried to get sliced up by your cousin" he said, touching the edge of the bandage that wrapped his chest. He looked like a mummy, he was aware of it. Charlie took his good hand in his, playing with his fingers and stroking the back. Sirius found it extremely relaxing and the redhead knew it.

"Mh, I made my portion of damage"

"Yes, Ron won't sleep for next week"

"Is he very upset?"

"He was muttering about a severed hand, but you saved his life, it will pass"

"Technically it was Dobby, I just went to create havoc"

"The purpose of your life, pretty much" with his hand still in his, he pulled him close and Charlie nearly lurched forward, but managed to put a hand on the headboard, staying a few inches away.

"Instead of saying bullshit, how about kissing me?" he said brushing his nose with his and the other smiled.

"The first smart thing I hear from you, Antiques"

"Vintage, thank you" he sighed before cancelling the last few inches that separated them.

It was the first pleasant sensation since returning to England. He still had the memory of that strange dream in the back of his mind that haunted him.

They continued kissing for a long time, Sirius sunk into the mountain of pillows that kept him sitting and Charlie leaning towards him, the only point of contact between them their lips for fear of hurting him. They weren't in a hurry, they never were, and that kiss had no other purpose, it was just a kiss and if by chance he had bad breath, Charlie was gentlman enough not to let him notice.

Sirius had just begun to consider turning that kiss into something more when the door opened.

Sirius didn't know exactly who knew of his relationship with Charlie, but it was clear from his expression that Remus hadn't been informed.

"I brought more blood loss potion and you should wash your face, you still have Bella's blood in your beard." He left the potion on the bedside table and slammed the door on his way out.

"Godric, you could have told me," Sirius muttered, running his good hand over his face.

"it's Bella's? I thought it was yours! " Charlie exclaimed as he rubbed his cheeks uncomfortably.

Sirius pushed himself back onto the pillows and exhaled loudly trying to relax, but it was impossible.

He had the sensation of having just been caught in fragrant and it unnerved him immensely.

He owed nothing to Remus and Remus owed nothing to him.

He ran a disinfectant spell all over his face and then tilted his head to the side as far as he could without his shoulder starting to ache. He wanted to get distracted.

"Do you have something to do for the next half hour?" he asked as he toyed with the hem of Charlie's shirt.

"No, but you're overestimating yourself," he replied with a half-smile and Sirius smiled.

"Insolent"

"Blowhard," he replied moving the blankets and sitting closer to him, always careful not to hurt him.

"I like our foreplay," he smiled biting his ear and the other laughed.

"And I thought we were already down to it," she sighed as she placed a hand on his thigh.

"Shut up"

"With pleasure"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ta-da! I don't know if this couple has a name. Starweasles? RedStar?
> 
> Fear not, it will be short-lived (WOLFSTAR FOREVER)
> 
> I have had a lot of fun exploring the hidden corners of the magical world
> 
> Technically, I anticipated Teddy's birth by about a month, but STICAZZI.
> 
> Sorry, I'm a lewd person.
> 
> I sincerely thank those who have reviewed the previous chapters and whoever has read
> 
> Stay safe  
> The Cactus Incident
> 
> I don't think you really need me telling it every time, but as I said before, it is not my original work and if you are an Italian speaker go read the original because the law says that everything is better in it's original form.   
> The geeky girl.


	4. 03

A presentation party for a child, in the middle of the war, was probably as brilliant an idea as a wedding, but there was also the possibility that, waiting, everyone would die and then it would be really problematic to celebrate.

It was the simple reasoning of those who did not know if they would see the next day and Sirius fully understood it since it was only recently that he was better after escaping a second death at the Malfoy Estate; he had healed quickly thanks to Charlie's abilities and no, it wasn't a double entender, he was just talking about his healing skills.

The Burrow was a relatively safe place again, ever since the Weasleys pretended it had burned down. The house had been hidden with such a thick and precise blanket of spells that Sirius could barely notice they were there and that above all the house wasn't really a pile of charred rubble.

"Really Charlie, I can stay at the Shell Cottage or Grimmauld Place" tried to convince him for the umpteenth time. He and the boys had left Shell Cottage with their features heavily transfigured for the time it took to get to the house. The two of them had arrived there by motorbike; the animagus had got into the habit of shrinking it and putting it in his pocket whenever he parked .

“The lovely house you call a ghoul's cave? Shell Cottage does not have enough space for everyone, this is the best option” the other explained for the umpteenth time.

“Why do you want to see me sliced by your mother? It was your plan from the start, admit it "

"Grodric, Black, how melodramatic you are," he snorted theatrically

"It's his main trait," a voice from the patio commented, and Sirius smiled at his niece. It was nice not to feel a burning resentment towards Nymphadora anymore. Now it was just a sting in the stomach, more than manageable for someone like him.

"Dora!" He hugged her and she happily reciprocated “Happy birthday. Where is the baby? I want to see what you managed to put together” he said smiling. It was the first time he had seen Dora since leaving England and he couldn't help but be happy for her. They were there for a happy time, the only one in many previous months and of who knows how many others.

"He's over there with Remus, come" she said guiding them to the back of the house and as Tonks turned to lead the way, Charlie took his hand.

"I get it, you want your mother to have a new dog rug," he said sarcastically and the other smiled.

"I see you are on track"

Sirius could only see the charred remains of the patio, but the woman muttered a password to go through the spells and suddenly The Burrow was exactly as he remembered it.

It wasn't a big crowd, there were all the Weasleys, the Lupins, Luna, Dean, Harry and Hermione who had left before them. They had left Shell Cottage in small groups and at different times, each group thanking a different road and mean of transport to get to The Burrow, so as not attract too much attention.

Everyone present knew that Sirius had left with Charlie, but hardly anyone knew that they had been together for all the months that had passed and that for most of them they had shared more than just an apartment.

Andromeda was obviously there too and Sirius immediately approached her as Charlie followed Tonks.

"Hey cousin" he sighed as he hugged her "I don't know whether to give you condolences or congratulations"

"It's the dilemma of many, unfortunately," she replied as she hugged him tightly. They released the embrace, but Sirius put his arm around her shoulders, staying close to her.

Ted had been a muggleborn and like everyone else he had tried to escape, but they had found him and killed him without wasting time. They had left him where they had found him, the Dark Mark rising in the sky to mark their new victim. Bill had told him the details when he was able to get out of bed and eat with the others.

Just like back then, corpses scattered and claimed only by the Dark Mark. Sirius had thought of trying to contact his cousin, but had stopped. It wasn't a good idea, it was just a useless danger. He was actually quite surprised to see her there, if they caught them it would have been a considerable loot for the other faction, at that table sat eighty percent of what was left of the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter included.

"Still nice to see you, especially close to them," she sighed directly into her ear.

"It's nice to see you too and besides, I certainly couldn't leave her." The woman didn't comment on Remus and Sirius preferred not to press, remembering perfectly how she felt about her daughter's relationship with the man.

“Okay, who has my great nephew? I want to see if you did better than your mother, Tonks ”he exclaimed cheerfully after a while.

"I would say she did a great job," Remus said and Sirius turned.

Oh.

Several years ago, Sirius had dreamed of something similar.

Remus with his face relaxed and smiling, his eyes glistening looking at the bundle held in his arms. Sirius spent the first few seconds looking at the new parent, and then he remembered that he really should have been looking at the baby.

Teddy was a lovely little bundle with a sparse wetsand-colored tuft on his head and golden eyes, just like his father's, only the gray streaks in his hair were missing.

"Oh, hello to you," he said, gently caressing the baby's cheek "Can I hold him?"

Remus nodded, handing it gently and the big golden eyes peered at him intently. He had the adorable cheeks of all babies and as they looked at each other, his eyes went gray and his meager forelock, black.

"Ah! Just like your mother, huh? " he said smiling and the child smiled back at him.

It was possible that he had a lump in his throat and was trying not to be moved, but he was man enough to admit it.

Sirius loved children, which many did not believe possible. He didn't mind diapers, crying or being vomited on and he liked rocking them and when they fell asleep with their head resting on his neck.

He was also pretty good with them. He had helped Lily immediately; her friend had made fun of him saying that he had more maternal instincts than her and even if he pretended to be offended, he had considered it the best compliment they could give him, especially considering his parents .

He'd dreamed of something like that for him and Remus before… before. But he had never even had the courage to tell him about it.

"You are a rather adorable child, Lupin" he sighed as the child watched in delight.

The others had quickly resumed talking and eating, while Sirius was left to enjoy the bundle that continued to copy his hair and eyes.

"I think it's a good sign when he does that," Remus commented.

Teddy had managed to free a hand from the bundle in which he was rolled up in and without wasting time, he had grabbed a lock of Sirius' hair that hadn't been cut at all since he was back among the living and that now reached over his shoulders.

"Please darling don't pul-gghhr!" too late. He gently released one arm, supporting the baby's head in the crook of his elbow and carefully freed Teddy's little hand from his hair. Before Teddy could grab his hair again, he tied it with a spell without enuncation or wand and then returned to hold the baby.

"Much better this way, bean"

He sat in the free seat next to Charlie, without giving any signs of wanting to return the baby to his parents and began to listen absently to the conversation, continuing to look at Teddy and make funny expressions, making him smile.

His toothless smiles were adorable.

After a while Harry went to retrieve his godson which Sirius reluctantly returned and began eating the food that Charlie had put together for him.

The red haired boy non-verbally undid the spell with which Sirius had tied his hair and the other winked at him, his mouth full of Molly's potatoes casserole.

They kept exchanging glances and giggles for most of the afternoon and perhaps they had attracted other people's attention more than once, but it didn't matter.

"I need bathroom, i'll be back in a moment," he said after a while and Charlie was immediately at attention.

"Let me accompany you"

"Don't worry, I remember where it is," he said quietly. As he entered the house he heard one of the twins say something like "I have never envied Charlie more in my life" and had to stop himself from laughing.

George, it was definitely George.

He quickly found the bathroom that hadn't moved since the last time, and when he came out there was Remus on the landing.

"All yours," he said moving aside, but Remus didn't move an inch.

"I don't need it" replied the other, surprising him.

"Ah. So what do you need? "

"I wanted to talk to you face to face"

"Now?" he asked in shock. It just didn't seem a good moment.

"We haven't seen each other for months"

"Technically we met a few days ago, when you patched me up and for which I am grateful"

"You were drugged with potions and I was way to wired, it doesn't count," the other said caustically and Sirius began to get irritated. He did not understand where he was going with this.

"And it doesn't even matter when you came to check and found me with Charlie?"

"Clearly"

"Okay, if that's so, you knew exactly where I've been in the last eight months, if you wanted to talk you just needed to say it" he said, drastically changing his tone. He had tried to keep the conversation friendly, but it was clear that Remus was not of the same opinion.

"Because you have done everything to keep in touch," he retorted.

"Look, the last thing you wanted was me in the way, it was clear from your expression of panic every time you accidentally set your eyes on me, so I stepped aside"

"How nice of you," he replied sarcastically to his motives and Sirius began to lose his temper. It had been a complicated couple of weeks, he still hadn't fully recovered and he really wasn't in a position to endure his reprimand.

“Merlin, I really don't understand what you want. You have a great family, a great wife and a great baby, don't screw it up, Rem, and most of all I'm not going to let you use me as an excuse to do it. Don't fret, a couple more hours and I'll get out of the way, ”he said trying to cast him aside and go back outside, but Remus wasn't of the same opinion. He had always been much stronger and taller than him, but he was good at making it go unnoticed. Now instead ...

"With your boyfriend" he said, arching an eyebrow. Ah, that's the point of the ambush.

“Good Godric, and the mystery is discovered. You are incredible, you are truly incredible "

"If you didn't notice, there is a war going on?" he said in shock and Sirius said goodbye to the last crumbs of patience he had managed to keep.

"Oh is there?! I'm not the one who started procreating in the middle of a war! Damn, when it comes to good decisions, you really are a champion! " and here is the proverbial Black temper that arose.

“You are really sleazy. After all the tirade you gave me at Grimmauld Place! "

“You were going to leave her, pregnant, you should have thought about your actions well before then. I'm not the one making scenes at my son's Presentation party. Now I have a present to give to my niece, the one you married, I don't know if you remember it” he said as he was already descending the stairs.

He sat down at the table trying to pretend nothing happened, but Charlie realized that something had gone wrong. Sirius had never been any good at hiding anger, he had barely learned to handle it and he was nearly forty.

He got distracted talking about the Order's plans and what he and Charlie had managed to achieve in Romania. They had taken apart an entire cell of the Dark Lord who was gathering trolls and graphorns to get them to England. It had been quite an adventure, but the only one who seemed interested in graphorns was Luna.

They quickly moved on to cutting the cake which had the typical shape of a four-pointed star, a decoration widely used on all things for children and which should have hoped for a future full of magic and to always "travel" in the right direction. It was clear that Sirius's star had been seriously damaged, probably because his cake had been prepared by Kreacher.

After the cake, it was time to give the gifts and Sirius was quite excited. He had the idea straight away when Remus invited all the residents of Shell Cottage to attend and had to contact some old friends to make sure it was possible.

The child was passed among all those present who at that point delivered their gift. When Teddy returned to Sirius's arms, the man pulled two envelopes out of his inside jacket's pocket. He gave one to Tonks who was standing in front of him and placed the other on the baby's lap.

"What's this? A Portkey? " the woman asked as she opened the envelope curiously to find a single green coin with a hole in it.

“Exactly, it's to take you to the home of an artist, Elvire Bragnam, that I have commissioned for a portrait or two, as you prefer. The expense will be fully covered by me, I told her that you would contact her via Patronus as soon as possible to fix the first appointment and activate the Portkey "

"Sirius but… this is huge" the woman exclaimed in shock.

"You deserve this and more and also, I skipped the wedding present" he justified himself. "And this is for Teddy" he said, also handing the second envelope to his mother who quickly opened it and found the familiar golden key.

"A Gringotts vault?" Dora said even more shocked.

“Full, of course. Technically, Harry is still in possession of all the Black fortune "

"I'll give you everything back when you officially come back to life" said the boy amused.

"The gift is still from both of us, I wanted him to give it to you, but he didn't want to hear reasons"

"Sirius, it's your money," Harry insisted for the umpteenth time. Godric knows how many times they had had that conversation "And then I don't know what the custom is in these situations" the boy justified himself shrugging his shoulders.

“But there was no need for such a gift, Harry. You will surely have filled that room more than necessary, ”said Tonks who held the envelope with the key in her hand as if she didn't know exactly what to do with it.

“It certainly won't be missed. The Black rooms are full to the brim. Can you confirm, 'Dromeda? "

" Absolutely" the woman added with a nod of her head.

“And they keep filling up. Rentals, licenses, concessions. Teddy is a Black, even if only for a quarter, and it is right that he has a slice; it's the only good thing about that family, anyway "

"It's a really overblown gift, Harry," Remus insisted looking at the new godfather, thinking he would be able to dissuade him and get him to collect the gift.

"It's the godfather's gift, you can't refuse," the boy said with a smile and Sirius winked at him. Bravo Bambi.

The guests had all gone and only the Weasleys and the Lupins were left. And Sirius, of course. He tried to offer his help to clean up, but he was sent to the porch with a glass of whiskey and obeyed.

Seconds ago there had been a glorious moment when Molly had asked him where he was going to sleep and before Sirius could even turn to look at Charlie, the boy had took his hand and fixed his clear eyes on his mother.

"Sirius sleeps here"

"Oh, then we'll have to prepare Bill's old room"

“No need for Bill's room, he can sleep in mine. With me"

At that moment mother and son began to fight and Sirius didn't know whether to laugh or be ashamed, so he did a little of both. He was then kicked out, glass in hand. A few screams could still be heard from inside.

It was a clear evening, but rather cold and he hugged his jacket, the liquor warming him from within. There was another free chair, not far from the one he was sitting on and inside they continued to argue animatedly.

He would have wanted such a life, a family that argues, but without hatred, an after dinner spent enjoying a drink and then going back inside, knowing that there would always be a place for him, that no one inside would make him regret having entered.

Of course that wasn't the specific case (see: Molly), but he could imagine, especially if he focused on not listening to what they were saying inside.

It seemed like a ridiculous thing to want, a family, especially in the middle of a war. Other people wanted to be able to go on living, Sirius wanted people to make him feel at home. He had been wandering for too long.

His glass had been empty for a long time and the cold had seriously begun to bother his still battered shoulder when Charlie came to call him with a smile. He took it for a good sign.

Charlie slept blissfully next to him. He had his back turned, laying on his side, and Sirius could see just a hint of hair that looked blue in the cold moonlight but that he only noticed casually; he was busy looking at the freckled and the scarred map that was his back. In that light it had become the Milky Way and the iridescent scars were shooting stars.

It was clear that Sirius was suffering from insomnia with a lot of fancy flights. It didn't happen to him as often as it did before the Time Out, but it did happen every now and then. His mind continued to grind for miles, even as his body screamed for mercy. He got better with age, with trauma he got worse, and with death he got better again, but there seemed to be no way to end it and be able to sleep every night. Simply, sleeping was something Sirius didn't know how to do, he'd made peace with it several years ago now, he'd learned to make peace with a lot of things.

Sirius knew he had made several mistakes, it would be stupid to deny. There was one big mistake, though, which he only realized when he stopped being dead, something Molly Weasley had repeatedly pointed out to him in his year of solitary confinement in Grimmauld Place, but which he had ignored.

Harry wasn't James. And he will never be.

It did not take a genius to understand it, but it took a balanced person to realize that he could not expect from a son the relationship he had with his father; and Sirius wasn't very balanced, not at all really, especially after Azkaban.

James had helped him when he had no one on his side, had welcomed him into his house like a brother and had tolerated his temper, fits of anger and melancholy and Sirius would have been grateful for the affection he had shown him until the day he would die (permanently).

He was hoping to make up for lost time with James, but with Harry. They were little more than boys when James and Lily died and he saw so much of him, of them, in Harry.

He had wanted his friend back, Harry wanted a father and things hadn't gotten together in the best way, but he had died so soon that he couldn't even realize he was wrong.

Now he was pretty sure he did wrong again, Harry had told him not to follow them and he had trusted him. The trio had done a great job, but was it really smart to send them alone on the hunt for horcruxes?

Was that where he had been wrong again? That he hadn't accompanied them? Did he trust the three seventeen-year-olds too much? Godric, they were little more than kids.

He felt like a worm. Hermione would wear that scar on her arm for life and all three of them would never forget the horrible experience.

Not that Sirius's presence would have made it a jolly ride, but maybe he could've lighten the load, he could've tryed to keep them safe.

And what for? Why hadn't he followed them? Because of an order from Dumbledore? The most horrible thing was that he knew perfectly well why he hadn't followed them.

Because he wanted to get away from the eye of the storm, because it was all too intense, too much like the first time and if he had to die, this time for good, he wanted to have done something more than just fighting and survive by the skin of your teeth.

Sirius wanted to slow down, for the first time in his adult life, he wanted to see what it was like to have a semblance of routine and know you would make it through the day.

And Charlie had given him that, because dealing with dragons seemed infinitely more relaxing than anything he'd done before.

He had continued to help the Order, he had done his many missions, but he had also taken a breath and yes, for him it meant spending the day being incinerated by a dragon and then going home and relaxing with his partner.

He knew it wouldn't last, Charlie knew too, but they had been the best months of the past twenty years and they had done more for Sirius' sanity than any healer could.

He had been selfish, always had been, and he would feel guilty about that, but it had done him damn good. And now he would be able to be there for Harry as he needed, and maybe it was almost too late now, but now he could give him something too.

Sirius knew he wasn't the best and that his problems weren't magically solved by fucking Charlie Weasley and getting himself lightly roasted, but he finally had the time and mental space to leave the past behind, to leave the ghosts of James and Lily behind. To leave the reckless Black behind and finally move on.

Now he could help Harry and not demand anything of him as everyone did.

Well, it did him good to risk being killed by Molly Weasley, he had to admit.

Sirius returned to Shell Cottage the next day.

He told Charlie this as soon as the other started to wake up. The young man, still quite asleep, had clung to him with all four limbs, which was rather ridiculous since he was a few inches taller and decidedly more muscular than Sirius. The poor man was trapped. Why didn't they trap him like that more often?

He would have missed this most of all; the familiarity with which they existed in each other's space, the way they knew each other that was not particularly deep or haunted, but was peaceful and pleasant and thrilling too. Why did he have to feel awful to want something nice and simple for once?

"You're making her win, Sirius," he sighed against his neck, his voice still hoarse with sleep.

"I'm not welcome, I understand it, I get out of the way." He was in the mood for euphemisms.

"Mmh, i think that you are very welcome"

"Only by you, though"

“And also the twins. If you gave them a chance, I assure you that they would sell our mother to be in my place, perhaps even both at the same time, those adorable perverts "

Sirius laughed heartily and Charlie smiled, one eye still closed and his head on the pillow. After a while he got up, put on a pair of boxers and left the room. Sirius didn't move from the bed, he knew how it worked. After a few minutes he came back, a little more awake and with the breath that tasted of mint, but he went back to bed and this time it was Sirius who hugged him.

“She always does that. You have no idea the fuss she made when Bill brought Fleur the first time” He continued as if he had never left the room.

"And Fleur has never even ended up in prison," added the other

"I'm not so sure about that," he commented and Sirius grunted.

"I'm trying to be a responsible person"

"Then stop" he said in a slightly petulant tone and Sirius sighed.

"The boys still need a hand to carry out the mission, we are only optimizing"

"I really want to start throwing tantrums like she does"

"Splendor, that's me, you're the calm one and then I sincerely want something else," he said grabbing his leg and bringing it to his waist. Charlie smiled biting his lower lip.

"Ah, and I am willing to serve"

-

Technically Sirius was almost completely healed, he didn't even have to wear the support for his injured arm anymore, but he still wore a bandage that relieved the pressure. It was nothing special, but it was a little tricky to get the bandages behind his back, especially without them getting twisted. After each shower it was a stretching battle that he tended to lose if he didn't get help. Evidently he was also complaining vocally, because he heard a knock on the door.

"Pads? Do you need help?" Harry asked him.

“Bambi, you would be very welcome, come in. The door is open,” he said, dropping his arms a little defeated.

Harry had his usual messy look, with longer-than-usual hair pointing in all directions and the beginning of a beard.

The man handed him the end of the bandage and the boy went to work.

"Make it pass from underneath ... just like so ... another loop... perfect" he stopped him with a spell and then let himself be helped to put on the shirt. He still hadn't regained the full shoulder rotation.

“Thanks for your assistance,” he said, slightly ashamed. It wasn't something he was proud of, getting help from his son.

"It's the least a can do" answered the boy shrugging his shoulders, but with clear eyes clouded by concern.

"Don't start with guilt trips, rather, you should shave, your beard is embarrassing," he said scratching the scruff under the chin and the boy slapped his hand away laughing.

"James has never been able to grow a beard properly, he has always been quite envious," he added, smoothing his short and neat beard.

"Maybe later I'll use the razor that Bill gave me on my birthday ..."

"What? A magic razor? What my ears must hear” He searched his bathroom kit (which had a small extension spell to hold all of his junk, but that was between him and the purse) until he pulled out a muggle razor. It was a nice steel razor with a wooden handle, a gift Fleamont Potter gave him when he taught him how to shave at fifteen.

With one Gemino he doubled it and handed the second to Harry.

"Did they ever teach you to shave?"

"I have never received a proper lesson" explained the boy. Sirius hadn't meant to shave, but it would grow back in a few days, nothing to cry about.

"Then today you will make friends with Leopold," he said, pointing to the razor.

"Leopold?"

“Your grandfather called it that, he never wanted to explain why. He has always been adamant that Muggle razors were far superior. He used a thing that could slit your throat if you had the misfortune of sneezing while shaving, but he taught me to use this. Muggles call it a safety razor, but it's still pretty sharp, so be careful "

He handed him the shaving soap and brush and after they had lathered themselves, they set to work. Harry watched all his movements closely in the mirror, imitating him step by step and they both came out with smooth, uncut cheeks. He hoped that moment would remain in the boy's memory as was the memory of Fleamont's careful voice and precise movements. The man had been more of a father than Orion Black had ever been, and if he managed to leave Harry half of what Fleamont had left him, he would be satisfied.

He handed him the aftershave and enjoyed the expression of pain.

"Why?" the boy asked as he tried not to cry.

"Temper your temper, young man," he said in imitation of Fleamont and Harry smiled.

"I guess that should be my grandfather"

“Well guessed. He was crazy, both of your grandparents were, they had James very late, they could almost have been our grandparents, but they were the best people I've ever met "

"Did they meet my mother?"

“Of course, at your parents' wedding they were the life of the party. They died shortly after, before they could even know about you, but they would have been ecstatic at the idea of a grandson "

"And they ... how did they die?" the boy asked concerned, but Sirius was not afraid to answer him honestly.

"Dragon pox, a stupid disease, but very dangerous if caught at a certain age"

He was tempted to tell him about their portraits at the Potter Manor, but he refrained, it would have been a stupid and dangerous temptation. He would show him everything once this damned war was over for good. And if he didn't survived, he'd already left everything explained in detail. Like hell he'd die like a fool again.

"Since you got back, you talk a lot more about the past" Harry said after a while as he tidied up the towels.

“Because it doesn't hurt like it used to. I know I was wrong, especially in not having insisted more on accompanying you, but I was not yet ... I do not want to justify myself to you, my behavior cannot be excused, but from now on you will not get rid of me even with curses "

"I would hope so, you still have too many things to tell me"

"Everything you want"

\- 

It took several weeks to heal properly and organize carefully, but the result still left much to be desired.

The plan was even worse than the one they had entered the Ministry with, but this time Sirius didn't let Harry decide on his presence. After the Malfoy Manor fiasco, he probably didn't even want to.

Sirius had proposed to play Bellatrix, but had been rejected for a number of reasons including the inability to credibly escape when the Polyjuice would have exhausted its effect because it would have happened, since there was no time to make more and there was only one dose left which, by the way, Lupin had.

Sirius was in the living room where he had improvised a small potions lab to replenish his personal supply of First Aid Potions. The boys were upstairs talking to Griphook when the werewolf knocked on the door. After the necessary identification phrases, the animagus let him in.

"I thought you were with the Weasleys" he said surprised seeing him there, instead of good morning, and Charlie's red head popped out of the kitchen "Hi Remus!"

"My presence has been a reason for debate" he said dryly. He really didn't feel like making jokes with Remus.

"I told you you could stay," Charlie misunderstood and Sirius gave him a smile.

"I do not want to die at the hands of Molly Weasley, nothing against your mother, but I would like a more striking ending" the boy smiled, but this time it was the werewolf to interfere.

"Of course wherever you go, Pads ..." Remus began with a pedantic tone he really couldn't afford, but Sirius cut him off.

"If you're here to fight again, I really don't feel like it," he interrupted him, and a chasm of awkward silence opened between them. That was new.

"I'm going to see if the boys need anything" said Charlie who disappeared upstairs.

"Apparently quiet and scarred - you clearly have a type" Remus really wanted to test his patience. Apparently.

"Black and rebels: you clearly have a type too." Remus gave a tight smile that hid a grimace. Like hell he would make him forget.

"She knows" he hissed between his teeth, as if that were enough to justify him.

"What? That you have treated me like shit since I got back? " he snapped.

"She knows about you and me," he added in another hiss, terrified that someone else might hear.

"I would really like to understand what there is to know," he hissed in turn, making fun of his tone and making him lose patience. That was what he wanted, maybe if angry he would finally have said things as they were.

“Do you have any idea what it meant when you died? Or are you really convinced that nobody gave a damn? Harry was in pieces, but he continued to help Dumbledore and then had to bury him too "

"I talked to Harry, is you that refuse to do anything other than insult me"

"What do you want? An open-hearted confession? "

“I want to move on. I have lived in the past for the past sixteen years and I am tired. I died and you moved on and I didn't blame you, I stepped aside. I don't understand why if I want to be able to do the same, it must be a problem! "

Something broke, Remus's face muscles rippled, but then everything was back to how it was.

Sirius had really hoped he could finally get an honest reaction from him.

“What I wanted to tell you,” he began as he brushed the back of a chair, but they both knew that whatever he would say would not be what he wanted to tell him “is that I know why you commissioned the paintings. It doesn't take a genius to understand it "

Sirius snorted and ran a hand over his face. Okay, let's try with polite detachment.

“We both saw how it is for Harry. When things get bad - because it's a question of when, not if - we know perfectly well that you will join the battle and there is no spell that can keep Tonks out of the fight and if you two ... if Teddy is left alone, he must have something, an idea, a chance to get to know his parents at least a little. Not a day goes by that I don't wish James and Lily had done something similar. It's not like having parents, but at least it's a print” he explained quietly and cautiously, the former anger completely evaporated from his voice.

"Godric, and I'm the paranoid one"

"The times are what they are and the child must be protected in all possible ways" he continued detachedly.

"Do you know you're not his godfather?"

"Yes but I'm the godfather to his godfather and I have failed enough to teach Harry how to do it right"

Remus didn't answer and it was enough.

-

Eventually, Sirius would play the part of Bellatrix's henchman alongside Ron and for the occasion he transfigured his hair a platinum colour that would have made a Malfoy pale, with a short beard of the same shade and a large scar on his face. With his clear eyes, the result was a bit of a cousin of Fleur from the Veela branch of the family, a bit of a Grindelwald.

He had more fun than was decent with these things, he was aware of it.

Getting in was more complicated than it could have been without that damned Travers around. The Death Eater had intercepted them as they walked to the bank and stuck with their group. It was clear that he had serious doubts about their presence here, but Sirius jplayed him as best he could and with an exceptional French accent.

Once inside, things plummeted rather quickly. The Imperios were flying and the magical waterfall thwarted their disguises. How the heck were they going to get out of there?

The Lestrange vault was another wreck from which they all came out burned by the curse placed on all objects, but still managed to recover the Hufflepuff cup.

When that fool of Griphook ran away with the sword and screaming for help, the choice was between freedom and the sword and they didn't even consider the second option.

The dragon hadn't even been his idea. Had he thought about it? Yes, but he didn't propose it because he believed they would never accept, especially Granger. Instead it was she who proposed it.

Ah, Gryffindor.

They freed the dragon from the chains and he began to make space in the tunnels while they helped him with their wands by blowing off entire walls to widen the passage. To avoid losing any of the boys, he threw all three of the Anti-Unhorsing Sticking Spells, a Potter - Black '76 patent and consecutively made illegal in quidditch matches, but no one would be there to syndicate.

It was the stupidest thing he had ever done. He hadn't had so much fun in centuries.

"Charlie will die of envy when I tell him," said Ron and Sirius laughed in amusement.

The poor beast, half blind and atrophied, barely managed to take off, but was able to get them away from London. The landing problem was solved when the dragon flew over a body of water.

Before dropping off the dragon's back, Sirius put a complicated spell around his neck that would gently guide him to the refuge in Romania, more than a mind control it was a push in the right direction. It was the best option for a half-blind dragon that had probably never hunted in his entire life.

He launched an _Arresto Momentum_ to avoiding the atrocious impact with the water at that speed and transformed mid-air into Padfoot who was much better at swimming than him.

They came ashore and lay on the dock, the dragon still drinking on the other side of the lake. Sirius almost felt like going to give him a hand, but without an expert he risked to only go ahead and be his dinner.

He dried his clothes with a spell and then pulled off the long cloak of the disguise to put on his usual leather jacket. Even the boys had changed and were treating the numerous burns with the dictamus. He had approached to heal his and help them, when Harry's eyes turned backwards and from seated he returned to lie down with a violent gesture.

"Is he having one of his visions?" he asked worriedly and the two others nodded.

"I think so, we have to wait," explained Ron.

"Really? Is all you have to do is wait? " it was the first time he had witnessed such a moment. Harry had told him what he had seen in the Dark Lord's mind after their arrival at Shell Cottage, but Sirius had been too hurt to notice anything.

"We can't intervene, he found out fundamental details through their connection," Hermione said coldly, but her frowning brows still showed her concern.

"Yeah but ..." Sirius added, not knowing how to continue.

"It's horrible to see him like this, we know" concluded Ron who was looking worried at his friend.

Harry stayed a few minutes like this and the three of them waited for him to recover.

"He knows" he said when he finally opened his eyes "But now I know where the last Horcrux is"

"So? What's the destination?"

"Hogwarts. I knew it, I knew it! "

He quickly explained his vision, the dead goblins, the mental list that the Dark Lord had made and immediately started checking if all the Horcruxes were still in place.

“We have no time to waste. Can you imagine what he will do when he realizes that the locket and ring are gone too? What if he decides to move the Horcrux that is at Hogwarts? "

"He's right, it's risky but we don't have time to waste," Sirius agreed.

"And how do we get there?" Hermione asked

"From Hogsmade, it seems obvious to me" said Ron

"If Hogwarts is in the hands of the Death Eaters, so will be Hogsmade" the witch pointed out.

"Then we'll have to be ready to fall into a trap" Sirius conceded

"We better use the cloak" Harry decided

"All four of us?" Ron asked looking at Sirius.

“You three put it on, I'll turn into Padfoot” praying that in addition to stealing her wand, Bellatrix hadn't talked too much about the big dog that attacked her.

They paused just long enough to watch the dragon fly away and then disappeared.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes okay, there is a HUGE mistake in this in relation to the canon ...  
> Technically at this point in history the Weasleys are all hiding at Aunt Muriel's.  
> but as a wise man once said: sticazzi.  
> A slightly more introspective chapter, I think it was needed.  
> I've come to a standstill in the Wolfstar I'm writing (not this one, another story) and I'm stalling watching the Apocalyptica Youtube live  
> Uff, we'll get to it.  
> Thank everyone who has read and reviewed this story  
> Next chapter… Hogwarts!  
> The Cactus Incident
> 
> I know it took me too much time to release this chapter, the problem was that I was busy almost all last week because I had to plan something, and I'm busy this week too, so I planned on doing stuff in Saturday, but it turns out that world didn't want me to do it that day so he send someone for unexpected visit, so I'm working on it in one a.m., and that's my excuse.   
> But me and my lame excuses are not the point here, I didn't even written the amazing work you just read, all the credit is going to the writer, TheCactusIncident.   
> I wish you the best and hope that the universe is on your side,   
> The geeky girl.


	5. 04

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Halloween guys! (At least for the people who are celebrating it, I'll just have to wait until Hanukkah)  
> It's tomorrow, right?

The moment their feet hit the ground of Hogsmeade, an atrocious sound spread everywhere. Sirius had a split second to transform into Padfoot and then the street was filled with Death Eaters, with and without masks. One of them immediately started talking.

“Potter! Where a-” the man stopped abruptly, looking in shock at the large dog sitting in the middle of the road. Meanwhile, the golden trio had moved slowly without making a noise, careful to avoid any Death Eaters.

"A dog? A damned dog? "

"What if it's the impostor Bellatrix was talking about?"

Fuck. Sirius put on the dumbest dog face he could, wagging his tail vigorously and barking amicably. He had always had a natural predisposition to play a dog as stupid as possible.

Before those blockheads could start thinking seriously about it, the door to the Hog's Head's pub opened and Aberforth Dumbledore walked out into the street arguing heatedly with the Death Eaters.

"Now you have a problem even with my dog?" the man left the door wide open and stepped forward, approaching the group and Padfoot, leaving room for the trio to enter and make themselves safe.

"You know that the curfew-"

“I know about your goddamn curfew, but if my dog has to piss, I certainly can't teach him to use the toilet! Wulfric, you idiot, come inside "

Padfoot, continuing his magnificent interpretation of a big and stupid dog, entered the house.

Aberforth was still briefly screaming with the Death Eaters, then retreated and closed the door behind him.

"You are damn stupid to have come here," he said looking at them.

Sirius didn't expect to find Aberforth Dumbledore willing help them. He thought he heard something about it at the Shell Cottage, but he couldn't be sure since they had talked about it when he was still confined to bed and it was a conversation he didn't fully hear. He hadn't seen him since the last time he had been at Hogwarts, when the Wizarding world was still breathing down his neck.

"Black, I recognized you, stop the idiot dog face," the man said and Sirius felt quite offended.

"It was a masterful performance," he defended himself, once transformed back into a human.

"You deserve the Order of Merlin," Ron encouraged him.

“Thanks, Ronald. Now, how do we get into Hogwarts? "

A lengthy argument ensued in which Aberforth went out of his way to dissuade Harry as the boy continued to insist. Sirius stepped aside, finishing healing the other two from the wounds they'd gotten at Gringotts.

He listened with great attention to Ariana's tragic story and observed the girl in the painting, looking peaceful but distant. Could she have become an Obscurial? He did not give voice to his doubts, Aberforth's shoulders were quivering as he wept softly enough to silence him. But that would make sense if they were so intent on keeping her hidden.

Sirius was still mulling over the implications of what that poor little girl's life had been when Aberforth sent her away from the painting. The figure disappeared as she walked into the background, slipping into a long tunnel and when she returned several minutes later, the four newcomers were pleasantly surprised to see Neville.

They slipped into the tunnel behind the painting, quite the walk, where Neville recounted the horrors of the last few months, the Carrows, the students practising the  _ Cruciatus  _ on first-years, people chained to the walls and how the Death Eaters had tried to take out his grandmother.

"Pfft, has yet to be born a Death Eater who can put Augusta Longbottom in trouble," Sirius commented and Neville broke into a proud expression. "She even was a Defense professor at Hogwarts one year, while I was in school. She loved me "

"From what I know, I beg to differ," the boy commented and Sirius waved his hand.

“You wouldn't understand. Rather, where does this tunnel come out? "

"You'll see"

They found themselves in a large room halfway between a cabin and the interior of a ship, with hammocks hanging from the ceiling and Hogwarts banners marking off makeshift dormitories.

"Is it the Room of Requirement?" Harry asked and Neville nodded.

"Oh, how many memories," Sirius snorted to himself, but Ron heard it.

"If you knew about the Room of Requirement, why isn't it on the Map?" he asked and Sirius shrugged.

“Because it is an experience even just to find it, you have to earn it” and because it was the only place that they had not been able to fix on the paper due to its superior magical properties, but this they did not need to know. And the Chamber of Secrets, of course. He was still a bit pissed about not being able to find and open it.

Meanwhile, Harry had started talking to the students, trying to convince them that he was not there to fight, but only because he had to look for an object he refused to talk about. It was not for Sirius to decide but to keep insisting on the secret, at that point, seemed superfluous.

Absently Sirius cast a healing spell in the face of a boy, Seamus if he hadn't misunderstood, who looked at him in shock.

"But ... weren't you dead?" he asked dazed.

"Correct, but then I changed my mind," he said throwing another one at him. He didn't have the greatest reflexes if he let himself be mistreated like that.

They were still arguing, Harry still not wanting to tell anyone about the Horcruxes, when Luna and Dean came out of the tunnel. The possibly-Seamus rushed to embrace the boy.

Godric, they were all so young, little more than kids, and more were coming: the twins and Ginny along with another boy and girl Sirius didn't recognize.

Finally, Ron managed to make Harry act reasonably and get help from the others, Sirius continued to heal people absent-mindedly, getting numerous glares.

The boys were discussing what the object could be, and that it probably belonged to Ravenclaw, when Harry's gaze went blank. Sirius was immediately there to help him, and he put an arm around his shoulders to support him if he passed out.

“It's moving,” he whispered. “Okay, it's not much but this Diadem is still a clue. We'll start from there ”he said looking at Luna who nodded, ready to lead him.

"I'm coming too," Sirius said immediately.

“All three of us don't fit under the cloak, not quite, and a dog would attract too much attention. Wait here"

"Harry-"

“I am in command of this mission. You just try to not die again. ”Sirius wanted to argue, but Harry raised an eyebrow, his wand clutched in one hand. Would he really have cursed him?

"I don't make promises," he finally muttered.

Sirius waited in the Room of Requirement, many of the kids were giving him wary looks, but Neville approached and asked him to heal him and the man went to work. After Neville someone else trusted him to be healed, the tunnel door continuously opening, spewing out more kids.

Sirius tried to distract himself, but at least a quarter of an hour had passed and they still weren't back and he couldn't resist anymore. He threw himself out the door Harry had come out of and before he could close, he was back on all fours and with a tail. He had to look around to figure out where he was, but the one-eyed witch statue was able to orient him immediately and started running at breakneck speed towards the Ravenclaw dormitory. He never reached it because in some corridor before he found Professor McGonagall duelling against Snivellus.

He transformed himself back into a human, finally ready to give the end to all the grudge he harboured for the man, but before he could intervene the man jumped out of the window, running away.

"Coward!" he shouted in unison with the teacher, making eye contact with her.

The woman suddenly froze.

"Sirius," she exhaled

"Minnie," he smiled

"But you… what ... how ..." the woman stopped talking because finally, Sirius allowed himself to realize a small dream of his: he hugged the woman and, even more surprisingly, the witch hugged him back.

"Why didn't anyone bother to tell me you weren't dead anymore?" she said rather piqued.

"With the war as a distraction, it must have escaped from peoples' minds," he said as he still hugged her, then stepped away.

"Have I seen you transfigure from a dog to a man?" she said, brushing his hair. The witch had tears in her eyes, but they did not cloud the proud look she gave him.

"You have seen correctly"

“I was right, I knew the four of you had done something of that kind, but you were always careful not to get caught. How old were you? Seventeen?"

"Sixteen"

"Always the marauders"

"Minnie, we learned from the best"

“This is all very moving,” Harry broke in as he stepped out from under the invisibility cloak, “but we'd have a lot to deal with. Didn't I tell you to stay with the others? "

“And as you can see, I didn't. So what's the plan? "

McGonagall began giving instructions to colleagues who had come from the other end of the corridor and were watching in shock at the wanted Harry Potter and his officially dead godfather.

Once they received their orders, Sprout and Slughorn disappeared and the boy turned around asking Professor Flitwick about the tiara, but he didn't get much.

“No one alive had seen it! It is lost, boy! " he grumbled as he began to create wards that would wrap around the castle. They were all preparing for battle.

“Sirius, given your presence here, it would be a good idea for you would join us. I ask you to do your worst, I trust your skills, ”McGonagall told him with her usual stern expression, but her eyes sparkled.

With pleasure, Professor " "

Filch also came and when he saw him he screamed as Sirius smiled at him. After all these years it still provoked that reaction. That was satisfying.

McGonagall took care of Filch and Sirius turned to his godson.

"Forget the memory of the living Harry, try asking the dead, in the meantime, I had an idea," he said, glancing at the broom closet to his right. He just hoped it was all still there.

"Sirius. Don't… don't die again ” the boy repeated and behind him Luna agreed, nodding energetically.

"I'll do my best," he said, squeezing his shoulder as they walked away.

"We'd better get to work"

The Marauders had left a real treasure hidden in that school. A lot of that stuff had been bought for future jokes, but by seventh year they realized that if they used it all, the school would blow up. But now, the time had come.

He slipped into the broom closet and with the tip of his wand touched the third brick from the ground, near the corner and said " _Occultatum_ !"

The large stones stepped aside, revealing the box of fireworks still there, intact, under a Stasis Spell. There had also been the idea of adding the hiding places to the Map, but at the last moment they had been so busy with the exams and when they had time, Filch had managed to confiscate it from them.

"There's a lot more stuff than I remembered," he commented absently as he tucked it into the magically expanded bag on his shoulder. He checked all the hiding places he remembered, emptying them all and stuffing the loot into the bag. Among the various crates, he had also found one full of old glass globes, stolen from the elderly divination teacher, Delphine Themis, for a fifth-year party in which they filled the dormitory with strobing glass globes. He took those too, maybe they would have added a funky touch to the massacre.

He grabbed an abandoned broom in a corridor and went to work.

Their loot was made up of Muggle fireworks which, unlike the magical ones, in addition to making remarkable light shows, were able to do serious damage. It took him a few minutes to remember the directional spells, but when they came back to him he wasted no time, enchanting all the fireworks and putting them together in groups of three, in order to increase their destructive power.

He broke through a window and threw himself with the broom between his legs, ready to place the charges along the entire porch of the main courtyard.

He was pretty sure they would fight there. He had just placed the first bundle of explosives when he heard Voldemort's voice directly into his ear and he almost fell off the broom.

He continued undeterred with his work, while that disgusting being continued with his threats and ultimatums.

So they would start fighting at midnight, good to know.

It took him longer than he could have imagined placing all the charges and the glowing orbs, so much so that when he finished, some were already in position in the courtyard below him, ready to fight.

He abandoned the broom in one corner and dodged a curse from someone who had mistaken him for a Death Eater.

"Easy lion, I'm with the good guys," he said piqued, looking at a boy who seemed ready to tear anything apart. "And next time, use some worse curse" he said and the boy nodded.

"They told me the beautiful ones fight here!" he announced as he entered the courtyard boldly. Open space, few places to hide, Merlin knew what would become of them.

It would be difficult for him to keep his word to Harry; luckily he hadn't promised anything.

Among the friendly faces he recognized Remus and at that moment any tension, any disagreement or nastiness he said vanished. He allowed himself to hug him, enjoying the stronghold of the man for only a moment, a grateful expression on his face, the numerous problems between them completely disappeared into thin air.

He wanted to say something romantic or ridiculous to him, but it would be useless.

"In these situations," Alastor had instructed them as soon as they entered the Order, "it's all about choices and we must always be the one to choose," and Sirius would choose to save Remus. He knew he might as well admit it at least to himself.

Sirius had never taken part in anything like it and, if he survived, he would never again, he was ready to die, again, but this time he would leave-taking as many with him as possible.

"What were you doing in the air?" the werewolf asked him

"My worst," he sighed.

The wait was excruciating. They could see them in the distance, a living, charged black spot quivering on the other side of the school's narrow bridge.

The courtyard was full of the statues that McGonagall had awakened, some even exchanged greetings, like old friends, completely unaware of the nervousness that instead permeated the wizards and witches among them.

It was ten to midnight. Sirius was as tense as a violin string, but he would go straight before showing a single ounce of his nervousness.

Remus, beside him, took a deep breath and looked at the faces of who would fight with them. He whistled very loudly with his fingers, making Sirius' eardrum vibrate painfully, but the werewolf got the attention of everyone present.

“We are the first line. For many it is the first battle, for some, it will be the last. Forget anything that has held you back until today, tonight there is no curse too bad or illegal, tonight we fight to survive. In these situations, it's all about choices and we must always be the one to choose the outcome. Don't give them a chance because they will take it, fight together. Tonight we fight for all that is dear to us! " his short speech seemed to animate those present whose gazes, until a moment before, had become vacant.

When the audience stopped shouting excitedly, Sirius immediately remembered something.

“Oy! And at my signal, cover your eyes "

-

When the protective dome fell, the first to jump were the statues.

"Don't rush, let them come to us," Remus yelled at the students.

"Be ready!" Sirius shouted back.

"Tell me we're not leading them to the slaughterhouse," he said in a sigh he knew only he would hear.

"I don't feel like lying to you tonight," Sirius muttered. Remus nodded and straightened his back, fully showing his remarkable height. It wouldn't do any good to seem harmless at such a time.

He turned to look at him and at that moment he became the seventeen-year-old Remus he had made out with behind several school tapestries, with a carefree smile and sweet eyes.

"Well, Mr Padfoot, I solemnly swear I am up to no good," he said in the pompous tone they used as boys, offering him his hand.

"I agree and underline, Mr Moony," he replied, shaking his hand vigorously.

It was the last thing they said to each other out of battle, the statues began to fall and the Death Eaters invaded their courtyard.

When it was full enough, Sirius began.

"Now!" all the boys covered their faces and Sirius threw a modified version of the Lumos Maxima and then covered his eyes too. His spell broke apart, striking all the globes at once and creating a blinding white light that hit the courtyard, disorienting anyone who hadn't covered their eyes and giving them a head start, just a few seconds, but enough to start neutralizing them.

"Wait... are those the stroboscopic globes?" he heard asked, back to back with Remus and couldn't help but smile.

“The ones and onlies. Wait and see what I have in store for later, ”he said cursing a Death Eater who staggered in disorientation.

There was everything to fight: wizards, giants, giant spiders, trolls, and his faction were clearly outnumbered.

The Death Eaters and the rest of the hideous creatures they had on theirs began flying over their heads and Sirius began activating some of the charges, directing them as he pleased so that they explode in the best spots.

"Funeral with a bang!" someone yelled, but they were all too busy not getting killed.

"Do you mind if I steal some?" Remus asked him.

"Take your pick!"

His most ingenious move, however, was to use Imperio on a giant from the opposite faction while Remus covered him. It didn't last long, but it was enough for the mammoth creature to throw itself on one of its companions and together they fell from the entrance deck.

He turned cheerfully to his friend, but Remus had taken a few steps away and was making his way through the ruckus to reach Tonks' pink head. Good Godric, what was she doing there?

Being distracted at that moment was stupid, so he kept fighting, kept blowing up those who tried to descend from above, burning spiders that panicked their comrades and wiped out Death Eaters. The two new parents started fighting together, just as he and Remus were doing a moment before. This was no time for resentment.

"It's about time your talents were used properly!" he heard a familiar thundering voice say.

“Aberforth! How about watching our backs? " he proposed without looking at him as he finished a Death Eater.

"Great idea," the wizard agreed. At least he didn't have to have his eyes behind his head.

The faces merged one into the other, it was impossible to know exactly how many Death Eaters he had knocked out, alone or with Aberforth, but for how many they took away, others replaced them in an endless stream. One had come particularly close, wand in one hand and knife in the other, but Sirius pushed him away by blowing on the tip of the wand, creating an amazing breath of fire and igniting his hair and cloak.

He was grinding like a train, unstoppable, his arm acting automatically without the need to think… And then it happened.

It had been a split second that had lasted a blink of an eye and an eternity at the same time.

He was fighting with a troll and had blown his head off with a _Sectumsempra_ , and he was aware of where those two were, behind him on the right. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Bellatrix and Dolohov pointing straight at  _ him _ , the wand ready to strike Remus from behind, but Sirius was quicker by cutting the Death Eater diagonally from shoulder to hip.

Dolohov screamed and Remus turned to look at what had happened, but on the other side Bellatrix had had a clear shot and before Sirius could catch his breath, a green flash shot from his wand and Tonks went limp to the ground without making a sound.

His cousin laughed and started attacking them, but this time Sirius was ready and shielded himself and Remus, circled around Dora's body without daring to look at her, and began to duel with the witch trying to retreat.

"Bella! Do not run away!" he urged her growling.

“You were dead! You were dead! Why aren't you anymore? "

"because I had to get my revenge" before he could attack her again, however, Fenrir Greyback was on him and the woman ran away.

Sirius transformed and bit the werewolf, sank his teeth and pulled, tearing off pieces of his arm.

The werewolf growled and threw him violently against the steps of the entrance, the bag on his back softened the blow a little, but he hit his head and stood there several moments, unable to get up.

He managed to open his eyes, but the courtyard had begun to spin, making him nauseous.

He wasn't sure if he was still Padfoot or if he was human again, but he was sure that Remus and Fenrir were fighting.

When he realized he had hands and a wand he sat up, his elbows pointed on the steps so as not to lose his sense of direction.

He thought about trying to cast a spell on Greyback, but he was so confused he would surely hit Remus.

His throat was dry and his forehead wet and he was unable to focus on the scene.

He placed his wand on his forehead and cast a couple of healing spells that startled him and showered him with adrenaline.

"Gghh, okay, good enough for now" he finally muttered, pulling himself to his feet. His vision had returned, but he had a stabbing pain in his head. He tasted blood in his mouth and remembering Greyback he spat on the ground to try to relieve it.

Tonks hadn't moved from the ground. It was hard for anyone to get up after he passed under Bellatrix's wand.

He cast a spell on Greyback's back allowing Remus to overpower him and then launched himself into battle again.

He threw a witch over the deck of the bridge with a _Levicorpus_ and sent another head into a column causing a symphony of cracks after which she never got up.

There was a quiet moment, the army seemed to have paused in the attacks on that side of the castle, and Sirius allowed himself to take a deep breath. Remus threw himself on Tonks's body, but could not help but look at her in shock.

Sirius looked at them without saying anything and then felt the hair on his neck stand up and the too-familiar chill penetrating his bones. A quick glance at the other faces in the courtyard and they were all facing upwards with expressions of cold terror looking at what he had already felt.

"Remus ... Remus!"

The wizard raised his head in time to see a wall of dementors descending towards them.

Remus tried to Cast a Patronus, but he didn't succeed much, not with his dead wife beside him.

Sirius took a deep breath. Concentration, nothing else.

It was the showdown, finally.

" _Expecto Patronum_! " He hadn't seen his Patronus for years, he didn't think he was able to summon him anymore, yet there he was. Just like when he was twenty. Many were surprised to discover that his Patronus was not Padfoot, but Regulus and his damned mask knew the truth.

A goat, an eagle, an owl and other animals joined his wolfdog and together they wiped out the dementors and the cold came out of Sirius's bones.

They continued to fight but shortly thereafter Voldemort called his people back and gave them time to regroup and count the victims.

The hardest thing was to calm down, getting out of the hyper-concentration of battle so quickly was impossible. He sat down on the steps, trying to calm his heartbeat and making a mental check of his body.

His head was still throbbing, one knee had a little trouble holding him and he was tired, tired of two days of battles for survival, flying on dragons and escaping by the skin of his teeth, but he was still alive and whole. Slowly he managed to regain control and with a little effort he got up.

They had transfigured a stretcher and together he and Remus carried Tonks' body into the great hall.

He gave himself a couple of minutes to catch his breath, stretched out on a table and then went to work to heal as many people as possible; he pulled his stock of potions and bandages out of the bag and put them in his pocket. Gauzes rolled out of the jacket's pocket with which he bandaged the wounded, treating the less serious so that they would not clog up Madam Pomfrey.

There was a girl, he was almost sure to have seen her in the Room of Requirement, with big claw marks that when she saw him she started to cry. She was in a pretty bad shape and another girl was holding what must have been a piece of shirt pressed to her neck, the worst wound.

The other seemed rather reluctant to get help from Sirius Black, or maybe it was because he probably had all his face stained with blood. He couldn't be sure.

"Was it a werewolf?" he asked and the girl nodded.

"Greyback," the girl added and Sirius nodded to himself.

"What's your name?" the churches

"Parvati"

“Okay Parvati, your friend is in bad shape, but we can help her if you'll have to give me a hand. Can you do that?"

The girl bit her lip, rather pale, but nodded.

Sirius took the blanket that was resting at the foot of the stretcher and transfigured it into other bandages.

"Good girl. At my three take off the bandage and let's start "

The girl had several wounds, the largest being a claw mark on her neck and her hair stuck into the wound. Sirius put the girl to sleep, to avoid greater torments and went to work.

It took a long time, but Sirius was an expert on werewolf wounds and when they finished what they could do, he took a deep breath.

Parvati had taken on a grey complexion and sweat-damped forehead, but her eyes were lively and her hands attentive.

"Parvati, you did a great job," he finally said. From his pocket he pulled out a leather case which he unrolled over his legs, revealing the neat rows of single-dose potion tubes.

He selected a couple and passed one to Parvati.

"You are very well equipped," the girl commented.

"You certainly don't go to war armed with good intentions," he replied as he poured a potion into the girl's mouth.

"Okay, this potion is for the bloodloss, and what I gave you is a restorative potion, make her take it when she wakes up"

“A little bit of Dittany maybe? For the scars? "

"I'm sorry, but the Dittany can do very little against the wound of a werewolf"

"I didn't think I'd ever say that, especially in third year, but thank you, Sirius Black"

Sirius couldn't help but smirk.

“It's important to be ready to change your mind. Keep an eye your friend, I'll see if anyone else needs help. If she's thirsty, make her drink "

He treated another couple of injuries, all much less serious than the girl attacked by Greyback and finally saw Harry and immediately ran up to him.

“Bambi”

“Sirius! What did you do- ”he asked shocked looking at him. Godric, he must have looked awful.

“I bit off Greyback's forearm, I know I don't look reassuring. Are you okay?"

"I've had better evenings." He was covered in soot and had a cracked lens which Sirius fixed without asking his permission, making him wince.

"How is it going?"

"Bad, very bad. Attack on a school full of kids bad, ” Sirius answered honestly. His head was killing him, but he had recently taken a couple of potions that needed a couple of minutes to take effect.

Ron had joined his family, all gathered around Fred's body, lying on the stretcher as if asleep. Not far from Fred was Tonks, Remus sitting next to her, stroking her head as he was shaken violently by sobs. After leaving them there, Sirius still hadn't had the courage to approach. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Filch had taken off his jacket and was trying to observe the condition of an injury on one of his shoulders.

"They need you, go," he said to the boys and walked away.

He walked over to the caretaker and had to hold back the tears. How many of their mischievous plans had they put him through? Now he saw terror in the man's eyes for the first time.

“Hey Argus, would it be okay if I took a look at your shoulder? No jokes "

The man nodded rather mildly and Sirius bit his cheek to hold back any unsightly reaction and went to work. After Filch, Sirius also helped Madam Pomfrey to medicate the centaur Firenze, wounded on the side and lying on the ground, carefully following the witch's instructions as he had done when he was a boy.

He had avoided Remus until now, making himself useful, but now there was nothing else he could do. He sat down next to his friend and looked at the woman's body. Merlin, she was young.

Her hair was a deep brown, it reminded him of chocolate; he had never seen that colour on her, it made her look more like her mother.

"You were right," Remus said "this wasn't the time"

"I've never wanted to be more wrong in my entire life, Rem," he admitted touching Tonks's hand. It was the same one that had made him laugh when Grimmauld Place threatened to swallow him and had been close to Remus, had loved him, had given him a family, and had shown him that he deserved more than the Black's outcast.

It was the same little girl who had stuck a lollipop in his hair.

"You should have saved her, not me," sobbed the werewolf

"Remus," he grunted

“Why did you save me? If you had the shot on Dolohov you also had it on Bellatrix ”he could have been offended if his tone hadn't been so pleading, as if begging him to change something.

"I didn't think, I saw Dolohov and I saw how he looked at your neck and I hit him and meanwhile Bella ..."

"In the meantime, Bella killed ... Great job"

Being condescending didn't help, so he stopped.

“ Rem, you can blame me as much as you please, but I'll never apologize for saving your life. Tonight thanks to me Teddy lost only one of his parents instead of two "

Remus burst into tears and buried his face in his hands. Sirius tried to put his arm around his shoulders and for a few seconds the werewolf leaned against him, but just after that, he shoved him violently.

Sirius lifted his head, only to find himself in front of the Weasleys crying Fred, Ron was the newcomer and was still realizing, while in the eyes of the others there was already the certainty that this was the last time they would all be together.

He needed a moment of peace.

He left the great hall and headed for the nearest bathroom, hoping they hadn't exploded. There was rubble everywhere, but they were still standing. He looked in the mirror and had a feral, almost primitive appearance. His eyes were haunted and the whole right side of his head was encrusted with blood from the wound he had closed as best he could, from the mouth to his chest instead it was a mess of Greyback's blood.

He turned on the tap, luckily working, and washed his face and neck, after which he recovered some bricks that had been blown off a wall and turned them into jugs which he filled with water and carried into the great room; he left some in the hands of the boys who immediately started asking around who wanted some water. Dust from the explosions had lined everyone's throats.

He brought one of the jugs to the Weasleys and placed it in the hand of the only one he did not recognize. It had to be Percy.

"What's this?"

"Water, many of us have dust on our tongues too"

Fleur seemed to agree, as she took a sip after nodding to him, then passed the pitcher to Bill whose hair didn't even look red from how covered he was in dust. He couldn't see Charlie anywhere, but he wasn't on the floor either, and that barely heartened him.

Sirius sat back down on a table, giving himself some time to relax his leg and put his knee back in working order. The night was still long.

-

The sky had grown even darker by the time they arrived.

Voldemort spoke again and announced the most horrifying phrase Sirius had ever heard.

"Harry Potter is dead"

He said more but was lost in the roar of blood in his ears. They approached the school entrance, Voldemort in front, Hagrid carrying Harry in his arms, but Harry didn't move.

"NO!" someone grabbed him and held him, but he wouldn't have had the strength to get to the boy. It seemed miles away. Voldemort laughed and started with his monologues, but Sirius didn't care.

"I have failed again I have failed I have failed again!" It was Remus holding him still, he recognized the grip. He stopped fighting, collapsing to the ground, but the wizard did not let him go.

Sirius remained on the floor, his eyes fixed on Hagrid, unable to look directly at his godson's corpse. He had only been delayed for seventeen years, but in the end he had managed to let them down once and for all.

Bellatrix, across the hall, next to Hagrid, smiled excitedly as she licked her teeth. And then the stasis broke.

Neville charged towards Voldemort, but he was quickly disarmed and blocked and the Dark Lord would make an example of him. He summoned the Sorting Hat and when he put it on his head they all stiffened, ready to defend him.

Sirius finally allowed himself to look directly at Harry and something lit up.

Harry was a broken doll in Hagrid's huge arms, but he wasn't dead.

Sirius felt it, as he had felt which was the real Harry among the many copies.

He was alive. He was alive!

He stood up, invigorated and ready to tear apart anyone who stood in his way. Remus looked at him concerned.

"Sirius," he said in a sigh, but before he tried to calm him down, he cut him off.

"He's alive" a human ear would never have heard, but Remus frowned.

"What are you-"

"Be ready, it's not over yet," he repeated as he fixed his gaze on his cousin, suddenly a little less euphoric.

Voldemort set the hat on fire and Neville started screaming. At the same time, the roar of hundreds of people led by Charlie and Slughorn invaded the deafening silence in the night.

Neville broke free and pulled the sword of Gryffindor out of the Sorting Hat, throwing himself on Voldemort's big snake and cutting off his head as it flew in the air, body on the ground.

Harry disappeared into thin air. The cloak, he had put on the cloak!

It was chaos. The centaurs charged the Death Eaters and arrows and Thestreals dropped from the sky with Buckbeak screeching and gouging out the eyes of the giants and a huge black three-headed dog was attacking the Death Eaters. In order not to be trampled, they all took refuge inside, continuing to duel. There were the kitchen's elves, Dobby yelling for Harry and Kreacher yelling for Regulus.

Sirius did not get distracted and launched himself at Bellatrix. She was duelling with Luna, Hermione and Ginny at the same time, but Sirius threw himself in between.

"You're mine," he said, starting to curse her with a fury he hadn't felt for a long time. The girls stepped aside and a circle formed around them.

"I killed you once, I'll do it again," the woman hissed as she blocked her attacks.

"You killed your niece," he replied and the woman got nervous.

“It wasn't my niece! She was a traitor, she was dirty blood! "

"She was Andromeda's daughter!"

She threw several nasty curses at him that he managed to deflect, one hit the ceiling which started to spark, but resisted.

However, it was enough to distract her, allowing him to switch roles and start attacking her even more aggressively.

Neither spoke or laughed anymore, concentrating on not getting killed by the other.

The woman spread one arm too far in a parry and Sirius severed it, the hand still gripping the wand.

Her desperate cry threatened to distract him, but the bared throat reminded him of a horrible Romanian curse.

"  _ Suflu sânge _ !" he yelled, making a complicated movement with both hands, but he hit her squarely in the throat and the witch began to spit and gasp.

She fell to her knees, trying to catch her breath, but her lungs were melting. Sirius knew the counter-curse, but he wouldn't help.

He bent down before her, eyes clear, identical to his, wide with terror.

"You deserve a slow death," he said, watching her choke for a few more moments and then walked over. "I'm all that's left of the Black, cousin," he sighed in her ear and then gave her the coup de grace.

He raised his head, people watched the scene with a mixture of horror and admiration. He pulled himself to his feet, leaving the corpse there and realized that no-one else was duelling besides Voldemort who was fighting McGonagall, Slughorn and Schaklebolt at the same time.

The Dark Lord swept all three away and before he could finish them, Harry pulled off his cloak and jumped in front of him.

Sirius started to throw himself, but Remus grabbed him at the same moment Harry said, “I don't want anyone to try to help. It must be like that. It has to be me "

The two began to circle around each other, talking, explaining, but in the end, they got to the fight which lasted much less than it might have been expected. But Harry had just finished saying it, the Elder wand was his, not Voldemort's, and it would obey his orders even in someone else's hands.

Voldemort's curse bounced off Harry exactly as it had the first time sixteen years before, killing him, but this time his body stood there as a testament that even the greatest dark wizard in history was a man.

The chaos that broke out at that moment was a good one. Everyone jumped on Harry, everyone wanted to touch the saviour of the wizarding world.

Sirius waited for the others to leave, watched the Dark Lord's trusted followers vanish as quickly as possible. He watched the sunrise and finally walked over to Harry. He hugged him tightly and pushed him against himself.

"You hurt me," the boy complained and Sirius ignored him.

"You're a bastard, you deserve it," he said shaken with sobs as he continued to squeeze him, but a little less crushingly.

"I got it from my godfather, I just don't want to die," he said against his neck and Sirius stroked his head.

"At least I taught you something useful," he said leaving him a kiss on the temple that if it surprised Harry, he didn't say. “It's over, Harry, you did it. It's finally over, ”he said looking into his eyes and stroking his cheek with his thumb.

"Let's go inside, surely the others can't wait to get their hands on you again" he said after a while and the boy snorted.

Harry was quickly engulfed by the crowd and Sirius watched as the others cheered and cried, sunlight shyly illuminating the castle, as if it had refused to rise until Voldemort ruled over Hogwarts.

He felt pushed hard and barely had time to turn around, before the big eagle's head brushed against his neck.

“Buckbeak, ah my friend, how I missed you. Being on the run without you is not the same thing, ”he said, caressing him. He had missed him, he had been his only companion for so long.

"You were a phenomenal fighter, I saw you, the way you lead those Thestreal, a true leader," he complimented and the hippogriff showed off, proud.

He said his good-bye to the animal and went into the great hall where everyone had gathered. He helped move the bodies and put the tables back in place. Florence was still on the ground, but with the news of the victory, he had definitely gained some spirit.

He helped a couple of other wounded, nothing particularly serious and then looked around for Harry, but caught Charlie's eye first. He and Slughorn had gathered as many people as possible during the break and it was also thanks to them that they had managed to overturn the result.

Charlie brushed his fingers with his and took his hand, but Sirius pulled him into a hug, sinking a hand into his hair as the young man began to sob again.

"Have you already seen him?" he asked and the other nodded.

"He's been avenged, everyone has been," he said but the other continued to hold him.

"Shh, I know" he whispered, placing his lips on his temple and crying with him. He would remember Fred as if he were one of the Marauders, one of them. He and George understood what it meant.

When they were both finally calmed, they dried their tears and Charlie took his hand, pulling him towards the Weasleys, but Sirius looked at Harry, as everyone was competing for him as a coveted toy.

"He needs me, they're devouring him," he said looking at him and Charlie nodded, loosening his fingers from his and moving closer to his family. Sirius went to Harry and grabbed him by the shoulders before anyone else could catch him.

“You need to eat something and get some sleep. I don't accept objections, come on, follow me "

He said guiding him quickly to the kitchens without allowing him to look over his shoulder.

"But Hermione and Ron ..."

"I'll tell them to come here, you need some quiet," he said as he led him into the semi-deserted kitchen. There was only one elf, a little thing with big, watery brown eyes.

"Choline?" he asked uncertainly and the elf brightened.

"Oh! Sirius Black! Choline is happy to see Sirius Black again! Choline saw how Sirius killed Bellatrix. Very exciting "

“Thank you Choline. I have a favour to ask you. Could you make some food for Harry? "

“For Harry Potter? Choline can prepare everything! "

It took a while to convince her that sandwiches would be enough and when the elf made up her mind, Sirius grabbed one and went to find Ron and Hermione. He found them making out just out of the Great Hall.

“When you're done, Harry is in the kitchens. I think he wants to stay with you for a while "

The two dashed down the stairs, Gryffindor red faces, and Sirius headed back to the Great Hall. He was still swallowing his sandwich as he walked over to McGonagall who was talking to the other dorm Heads.

"The dorms are not in usable condition, they have been hit by something like small bombs, " Professor Sprout was explaining. Oops.

"To survive the battle of the century and then die to a wobbly beam" added Flitwick concluding with a sarcastic verse.

“You are both right. Kids who have no other means will have to sleep in the great hall, ”McGonagall agreed.

"How many guys are we talking about?" Sirius broke in.

"We still don't have an exact number," Sprout explained.

“I know it's not the most beautiful place in the world, especially after such a night, but Grimmauld Place is available. There are five bedrooms that can house two or three people each and two living rooms that can be used as well. Given the emergency, I can also come up with something to make them sleep in the kitchen and dining room. It's a very big house, ”he proposed.

"Would it be okay for you?" the deputy headmistress asked.

“Otherwise I wouldn't be offering. We have to see if it's okay for them "

After having eaten something, having made a quick count and proposed the idea to the students, a scant twenty accepted; a Floo connection was then opened from the McGonagall office directly to Grimmauld Place, where the youngs followed Sirius and Harry to wash up and have a place to sleep.

Here Sirius patched up another couple of still injured students and was surprised to find the girl he had helped along with Parvati.

“You are back on your feet. We haven't had a chance to introduce ourselves, Sirius Black, ”he said, offering her his hand which she accepted with a hint of a pained smile. The face was unmarked, but the neck and arms were a rather poor sight.

"Lavender Brown"

“Find yourself a room to sleep in, each room has a bathroom. If you want, after the bath we can check the wounds ”he proposed and the girl nodded.

The kids all cleaned themselves up and then recovered blankets, pillows and old nightgowns and pyjamas; Sirius wasn't even sure where they'd found them, but advised him to disinfect them with a couple of spells. Some of them camped out in the living room, those in worse shape were given sofas, while the others settled on the floor.

"It's not the most jovial place in the world, but it's safe," he heard Harry say to the others.

Sirius felt a little out of place among all those kids, but he sat on the piano stool to quietly watch them as he sipped straight from the bottle of whiskey. He hadn't gotten drunk since before his death and he had earned it. Seamus gestured to him and Sirius handed him the bottle. They had earned it too.

Harry had disappeared upstairs and never went down again. It was clear that he didn't have the slightest desire to see anyone and no one dared to complain. Hermione walked over to him and Sirius looked at her with difficulty. He was starting to feel very tired, if he didn't go up to the bedroom in the next ten minutes, he would fall asleep on the piano.

"Would you like some help with the head injury?" the girl asked him and Sirius was pleasantly impressed.

"It would be very much appreciated, thank you," he said, turning his head to give her a chance to work and went back to watching the guys. Many had already fallen asleep, but a few small groups resisted.

It would pass and they would go on with their lives.

He just had to find a way to do the same.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I've been mean to Tonks. I have no excuses.  
> The spell in Romanian is thanks to Google translate, so if I wrote bullshit I apologize.  
> You know that last week I complained that I got stuck? Nothing has changed ♥  
> I thank those who have read and reviewed the previous chapter.  
> * prepares for the stones hiding in a dumpster *  
> The Cactus Incident
> 
> So... I tried to write in British English this time, I hope the change is not bothering anyone.  
> And go read the original! If you don't know Italian, and you have time, learn it, languages are cool.  
> The geeky girl


	6. 05

His foundlings, as Sirius had begun to call the kids who slept at Grimmauld Place, stayed with him for several days.

The funeral was scheduled for the seventh, five days after the battle, five days when the temporary Floo line from the living room of Grimmauld Place to Hogwarts became stable, and through which the kids were able to retrieve what was left of their belongings as well as give a hand in cleaning up the castle.

In those five days the Order had given him a lot of work, Sirius had spent night and day (and many more after the funeral) hunting down the escaped Death Eaters and herding them together with the Aurors, then sending them to Azkaban. It was an operation that would go on for months, maybe years, but the first few days would be crucial. Or at least that's what the others had explained since during the first round of this war he was among the ones in Azkaban.

He and the others didn't expect the funeral to be scheduled so soon, but the corpses weren't waiting for anyone and there was a woefully large number of people who needed to be buried.

The service was held at Hogwarts, against the backdrop of the battered castle; it was a harrowing event, especially for the number of dead and for the age that went from eleven up.

The coffins were arranged in two rows in the centre of which it was possible to pass to pay respect to all the fallen in battle. The loved ones of each deceased gathered on the outer side of the line so as not to hinder those who wanted to greet the bodies. Sirius had gone with all of his foundlings and together they had walked down that atrocious corridor and then went to find seats. Some of the kids had an appointment there with their parents to go home, but many others would stay with him for a while longer.

Sirius didn't mind, on the contrary, the more people animated that cave the less he would be swallowed, the company was very much appreciated. But it seemed absurd that they trusted him since he had terrified many of them only a few years ago, but Harry was there and if Harry said Sirius could be trusted, then it must have been true.

They all sat together for the duration of the service anyway and it was only when McGonagall, Shacklebolt and the Sorcerer finished their speeches and services that the kids reached their parents.

After the funeral, the animagus accompanied Lavender to her parents, faces scarred with concern and a hint of horror that did not escape Sirius. He just hoped it was meant for him and not for the girl.

He explained the situation and that there was the remote possibility that Lavender was a werewolf, the only way to know for sure would be to wait for the next full moon, which would be the twelfth, and see how the girl would react.

"If that's okay with you, Lavender can come back to my house the twelfth, I have a cellar that can stand up to a werewolf," Sirius offered.

"Are you a werewolf too?" the mother asked, rather worried.

"No, but I'm sort of an expert on the subject, so to speak"

"Mom, he saved my life, if he hadn't been there, today I wouldn't be here" Lavender intervened energetically. They had removed the bandages, but the large scars on his neck were still pink and fresh-looking. The big marks had obviously upset the young witch, but she bit her lip to hold back the tears and took deep breaths: "They show that I survived, that's what's important" she announced, but she had also turned the mirror face down. It would take some time.

"Then I'll contact you via owl to make arrangements," his father finally said, offering him his hand which Sirius accepted.

“That's fine. See you soon, Lav "

"Thank you very much, Sirius," she told him and, and even more surprisingly, hugged him.

The other kids also seemed eager to introduce their parents to him and Sirius obliged them, enjoying their shocked faces when their children told them they had spent five days at Sirius Black's house.

When duties to his foundlings were done, Sirius looked around: Harry was with the Weasleys, one arm wrapped around Ginny while Hermione was tucked under Ron's arm. Charlie looked at him and gave him a nod to which Sirius replied with a beginning of a smile. He had already made his official greetings, but he didn't feel like joining them right now. It was for the family and he honestly wasn't part of it.

Not far from the group of redheads he saw Andromeda and, even further behind, Remus holding Teddy.

He preferred to get close to his cousin. The woman stared blankly at the coffin, her eyes red and her hair barely combed.

"'Dromeda?" he called out, touching her shoulder.

"Siri" she whispered, hugging him tightly. After a few seconds, she pulled away slightly, her eyes back on the coffin her daughter was in, but Sirius held his arm around her shoulders. "It seems at this point that my destiny is to mourn my family," she muttered in a wet voice.

"You've lost more than others, but you still have Remus and Teddy," he said leaving her a kiss on the forehead and the woman nodded in the embrace. She took half a step away to look him in the face and didn't bother to wipe away her tears.

"Will you be there?" he heard her ask.

"Me?"

"Siri, you are part of what little family I have left and I'm not going to lose a single piece of it again, understood?" she said in a broken voice, but so insistent that Sirius could not help but nod.

He noticed that some of the kids had gathered and were clearly waiting for him to return to Grimmauld Place.

"I have to go, The foundlings are waiting for me" he explained to the woman who looked at him with a frown.

"The foundlings?"

“They are the kids who had nowhere to go after the battle. I took them to Grimmauld Place, they will be there for a few more days, if you want to pass, that cave is always there "

"Right now I don't think I can do it," she said, looking around and looking at her son-in-law.

"The invitation is always open," Sirius proposed as he was already walking away, but Andromeda grabbed him by the hand.

“Siri, before you go, try to talk to him. He's very upset… ”she started, but the sentence ended in a wet sound. He was ashamed to admit that this was what he was avoiding.

"He blamed me for her death, I don't know how much I could do"

"Give it a go. You're the only one who could…. The two of us… we don't have a great relationship "the animagus had put together a picture of their relationship in the short time he was staying with his cousin, but he didn't know how much he would be able to help Remus, especially if the other didn't like the idea.

“Yes, but not today. See you soon, okay? "

"I'm counting on it"

He cast a last glance at Remus who was holding the baby in his arms looking at him intently. How old was he? A month and a half? Two? And he was already orphan of his mother.

He just hoped that Remus would be able to put aside his pride and the hatred he felt towards him and allow him to help. Maybe a little at a time. The last thing he wanted was to leave him alone.

-

"It's very big," Harry commented, a little intimidated.

"It's a Manor, it's supposed to be big," he explained calmly, his eyes fixed on every detail. The garden was in poor condition, but the house seemed perfectly intact.

James had closed it when they heard of the prophecy about Harry and that they would have to hide; it would have been stupid and impossible to effectively protect such a large place alone.

Sirius was with them when they got The News; James was shattered that his son could directly risk the Dark Lord's wrath, but Lily had been a rock, Sirius still remembered the way her jaw clenched and her pale eyes hardened. She would die before she allowed anything to happen to her son and that was exactly what she did.

"And were you often here?" Harry asked and distracted him from his melancholy memories.

“It was the residence of Fleamont and Euphemia, your grandparents, we stayed here until we were seventeen. I was here all the school holidays and then they welcomed me when I ran away "

"The more I look at it, the bigger it seems to get," he commented and Sirius couldn't blame him.

The Potter Manor was a spectacular four-story building and countless rooms. The roofs were of the classic dark sandstone and the ivy had enveloped the entire left side of the structure, also obscuring the windows, but the part free from the grass still showed the light window frames and the large blocks of exposed stone. It did not have the austere and formal look one might have expected, it was a welcoming building, the rich version of a country cottage, with a portico of white columns and huge arched windows. It was the site of some of Sirius' fondest memories and it filled him with joy to finally be able to show it to Harry.

"So? Shall we?" he asked after a while and the boy nodded.

"Yeah"

Sirius showed him the spell and, after trying it a couple of times, the boy enunciated it. The gates dematerialized and the estate seemed to awaken from the numbness of seventeen years of stasis.

They arrived in front of the door one  _ Diffindo _ at the time to cut away the waist-high grass and that damned climbing ivy that had almost covered the large front door.

Harry was rocking on his heels, and only when Sirius asked him to open did he dare touch the large brass handle.

The interior was perfectly intact if perhaps a little dusty. The furniture was covered in sheets, but the large wooden staircase was perfectly visible in all its grandeur, illuminated by the large windows behind it. The walls were a soft cream colour which contrasted beautifully with the dark wood of the staircase.

A twelve-year-old Sirius had fallen off the handrail of that staircase trying to slide down. He had been afraid to ask for help, fearing that Euphemia would beat him, but the woman had arrived in a hurry, frightened by the big thud Sirius had made on the parquet. She had helped him to sit on the first steps and had carefully treated his arm. It had hurt like hell and little Sirius had tried not to cry, but Euphemia had wiped his tears away with a caress and then had advised him not to do it again.

Sirius gave himself a few seconds to relive some more memories that finally hurt less and gave Harry time to watch it all for the first time. When the boy finally looked back at him, the man nodded and started walking.

"There is one thing I particularly wanted to show you," he explained before starting to walk with a sure-footed step to the corridor that led to the salon. Harry was looking around as if afraid that by moving the air he would risk destroying the illusion.

With a wave of his wand, Sirius opened all the curtains and the paintings began to complain.

"Who is it that disturbs at this hour?"

"Uff, we haven't seen people for years"

“Decades! Aeons! "

The paintings began to talk one over the other and they all crowded into one of the larger paintings, a beautiful view of the Manor whose only official occupant was a little girl with a messy dark head and a red kite.

"But... is that Sirius?"

"Oh, how he aged"

"He became a very handsome man, I've always said that!"

"But if until yesterday you called him a hooligan" the Potters had always bickered between them, but it was clear that the absence of people to talk to had taken his tool.

"Potters, a moment of silence!" Sirius shouted to silence everyone and it seemed to work, at least for the moment. “I have someone very important to introduce to you. This is Harry James Potter "

“James's son? But it is magnificent! "

"I've heard amazing things about you, boy"

"What a handsome young man, what beautiful eyes!"

“It's all Potter! Look at that hair "

His ancestors began to shower him with questions and Sirius watched Harry's face light up.

He could not understand exactly what his godson was feeling, he had always had a family, even if it was the wrong one, but he had also been lucky enough to find the right one. Maybe it had been short, but he'd had that chance, even if only for a moment. Harry, on the other hand, watched them carefully one by one, also asking questions that everyone answered politely while the others around them chattered about how polite he was.

Sirius couldn't help but lean against the wall and watch him.

"Pss Sirius" he heard himself being called and turned, he had not noticed that Euphemia had left the frame where the others were, including Fleamont who continued to boast loudly of his grandson and had taken place next to him, on the opposite wall of the corridor.

"Euphemia?"

“I'm so glad to see you again, but I have something very important to tell you. There is a painting that was delivered years ago, but it was never hung and I think I know what it is. It is in a big crate in the kitchen, could you be kind enough to take it and hang it there, in the place next to me and Fleamont? "

"Who is it?" he asked, intrigued by the strange request. He didn't remember anything like it, but it's also true that he no longer lived there at the time. After graduation, he had taken an apartment with Remus with whom he lived a short but beautiful period of pure and simple paradise. And then he had ruined everything, as it was his habit.

“It's a surprise, come on, be a dear” the woman urged him.

Sirius went into the kitchen where, as the painting had told him, there was a large wooden crate. He levitated it into the hallway where Harry gazed in delight at his grandparents.

He broke the spell that sealed it and opened it. The painting inside was wrapped and the other paintings also noticed what Sirius was doing.

"Oh finally!"

"How nice, so we'll all be there!"

The wizard unpacked the painting delicately and his breath stopped in his throat.

"Harry," he called without adding anything else, but the boy was already looking at the faces on the canvas, motionless until they hang them on the wall.

Together they quickly lifted the picture and sealed it to the wall with a spell and then waited.

For a few seconds nothing happened, but then James stretched and Lily snorted.

“Wow! It took some time "

"I'm full of cramps "

"Do you want a massage?" James offered, who still didn't seem to have looked around.

"Maybe later, now we have visitors," said the woman who was already smiling and the other broke into one of his smiles able to change the light in a room. There he was, his charismatic bastard.

“Padfoot! You've aged, ”he said amused.

"I'm still more beautiful than you," he replied quietly, trying to stifle the tears.

"But, is it ... Harry?" interrupted Lily

“Of course it's our Harry! He has your eyes and my hair, ”James said proudly.

“He wasn't very lucky. Our Harry. How old are you, dear?"

"Se-seventeen"

"A man now, did you get the watch?" James asked

“We're dead, aren't we? Honey, we're so sorry, we've done our best- ”Lily started, but the other cut her off.

“Lils, this is not the time for sad things, this is the first time that he sees us. How about getting to know each other a little first? What house are you in at Hogwarts? How are you doing with quidditch? "

Sirius summoned a chair and Harry sat astride it, as close as possible to the painting without risking a stiff neck, he didn't seem to even blink from the way he stared at them. Fleamont and Euphemia signalled to the other paintings not to disturb and countless generations of Potters stood in religious silence watching a son speak for the first time with his parents.

They had no particular emotional conversation, Sirius was pretty sure that the long time spent locked in a box had not done them any good, especially James seemed to have suffered, he hoped that by being in contact with the other paintings he would recover.

When it was evening, they floated back to Grimmauld Place where there were some Weasleys, Hermione, and other kids whose names Sirius could not remember. Before they could enter the kitchen, Harry grabbed him by the sleeve.

"Sirius, thank you very much," he said, his green eyes dangerously liquid.

"For what? Harry, that's your house "

"But I don't know what to do with such a place"

“Live there, that's what it's made for. It was a very happy home, keep that going "

"Maybe not right away," he said hesitantly.

"Harry, you don't have to ask me for permission"

“It's just… it's a lot to metabolize. I talked to Mom and Dad. ”His tone was so incredulous that Sirius couldn't help but hug him. Harry held him tightly and, hidden in his shoulder, he spoke.

“It had already happened once,” the young man added, surprising him “in the woods, thanks to the stone. There was the two of them and also Tonks and Fred. They helped me. ”He sighed against his jacket.

Harry had already mentioned what had happened in the woods, the resurrection stone locked inside the snitch and the two of them had also talked about what they had seen on the other side, but he had never said he had seen them.

"What did they tell you?" he asked surprised.

“Not to be afraid of dying and that they would always stay close to me. Tonks told me things for Teddy, for when he gets older, and Fred- "Harry swallowed hard before continuing" Fred told me to tell George that he would never leave him and that he might go and haunt Hogwarts "Harry cleared his throat and rubbed his cheek on his shoulder, "The thing that scares me is that if I had stayed with them, It would have been fine too"

Sirius took his face in his hands energetically but gently wiped his tears away.

“It wouldn't have been good for me. Not at all. The important thing is that you have found your way back "

-

Grimmauld Place was a bit of a seaport, full of kids who used it as a direct link between London and Hogwarts, but Sirius only abstractly noticed them as he spent most of his time raiding with the Order. They had lost several members, and many of those who remained were mourning loved ones; being sufficiently free emotionally and from any commitment, he was trying to contribute as much as possible.

Often he spent the whole day out, came back only in the evening and usually found a plate left aside by someone, which he devoured without particular attention, and then collapsed on the bed.

But when one day he managed to have a free afternoon, he was quite surprised by the number of people who seemed to live there, but above all, he was surprised by the house. The house was no longer chilling.

Grimmauld Place was a house steeped in magic, a house that absorbed the magical residues of those who lived it and when its inhabitants were some guys willing to return to a normal life to live there, the house had begun to absorb something good.

Maybe it had already started when it was the base of the Order, but at the time Sirius was so caught up in his own demons that he didn't even realize it. Passing the stairs he no longer looked over his shoulder expecting some curse between his head and neck and yes, he still had to make a wide circle on the landing infested with the fanged pendulum clock, but someone had fixed the rickety balustrade and it was now possible to hold onto without risking to fall down.

The windows were always open, there was always music and chatter in the background, someone singing in the shower and something simmering in the kitchen.

Grimmauld Place was beginning to look like a house and no longer a mausoleum. Sirius was flabbergasted.

However, there continued to be a sore point that he could not swallow and it was for this reason that when he had some free time again, he called Elvire Bragnam, the painter.

“I need some advice,” the animagus began, “and you are my last resort. Do you know a way to move her from there? " he asked, showing her the painting of his mother who in response began to shout and insult them. "I have tried all the spells known, I have tried to incinerate her, explode her, dematerialize her and even electrocute her, but nothing works" he explained as the woman began to trace diagnostic spells similar to those used by healers, ignoring the portrait that kept insulting her.

"Okay, I have two good news:" she decreed when finished "it is not tied to the house, it is only tied to the wall and the one behind her is a simple wooden cavity," she said knocking on the wall that rang empty.

"Okay, so?"

"So I'm going to offer you a very Muggle solution," he said with a slightly psycho smile.

"El, I'm ready to tear down this wall just to get it out of there"

"Now?" she asked, shrugging.

"You are available?"

“For a little healthy destruction? Always. I'll be right back, I have to take something from the car "

How he liked Muggle-borns.

Elvire was a former Ravenclaw a couple of years younger than him. They met when, as a punishment for nearly getting Snape killed by Moony, Dumbledore forced him to tutor in Transfiguration for anyone who needed it.

At the time the woman drew on ordinary paper, but she had always been very good and Sirius had also obtained for her a couple of books on magical portraits, stolen from the Forbidden Section of the library that he and the Marauders knew even better than Madam Pince. In return, she had given him a skateboard, it was seized from him before he could even learn to steer effectively, but it had been ten days of beautiful rides in the long corridors of Hogwarts.

The woman returned a couple of minutes later, a large, menacing-looking tool in her hand.

"What the fuck is that?" he asked curiously and even vaguely worried.

“It's called a chainsaw, it's used to cut trees,” she said turning it sideways and showing him the large-toothed blade.

"And why did you have it in your car?"

“Don't ask questions, Black. Now, the wall behind your mother is made of what were once trees, so now let's have fun" she said with a maniacal smile before starting to violently pull a rope and then let go, several times until it caused a deafening crack and a subsequential rumbling.

She pushed something and the blade began to move, making even more noise; Elvire started cutting the wall around the painting while Walburga started screaming in panic, but Good Godric it was working. He didn't think it was possible, perhaps the house too wanted to get rid of the painting.

"Can I try?" he asked after a while.

"All yours. Press here to accelerates, but be careful, it is rather dangerous "

His mother was howling in despair, but Sirius kept cutting away the rectangle of the wall, animated by a strange satisfaction and disgustingly familiar sense of revenge.

The moment the rectangle broke away from the rest of the wall and fell forward, the painting froze and returned to the banal position in which the hag had been portrayed.

He looked around and realized that Elvire was no longer in the corridor. Some of the kids had gathered on the stairs and were watching the scene worried.

“Elvire! How do I turn it off? " he shouted and in a moment Elvire was at his side, ready to take the chainsaw out of his hands. Maybe he should have bought one too, he would surely have found the right opportunity to use it.

"Uh, that was very therapeutic," he announced when the contraption stopped making noise.

"I can only imagine," said the witch amused.

"How much do I owe you?"

“You did it all, it's on the house. Rather, while you were cutting the umbilical cord, I noticed that in the other room there is a rather badly maintained family tree. Would you by any chance intend to restore it? " the woman proposed and Sirius shrugged.

"It never crossed my mind," he admitted.

“If you think about it, give me a call,” she said as she cleared the sawdust that had filled the corridor.

"What do you mean by restoring it?"

Sirius and Elvire had a long conversation in front of the tree, looking at the various branches that had dried out from the many holes made over the years. The spell it was built upon was very powerful, but it was also in quite a bad shape due to the numerous blown heads.

Elvire thought that by restoring the ruined parts, the spell would work properly again and the tree would bloom again, adding all the people who had been cut away.

Sirius didn't care much about that lousy wall, but he remembered someone who might do.

"When can you start?"

-

Dean and Seamus shared what had once been his mother's room.

It was one of the worst choices, as Buckbeak had occupied it before them, but it was one of the larger rooms.

Anything dangerous that might have been there had already been removed or neutralized years ago; the two had started redecorating and Sirius had given them the green light, and if once finished it looked more like a Gryffindor dorm than a matron's room, even better.

Dean and Seamus spent a lot of time in the room and it didn't take a Legilimens to figure out what those two were doing locked in there. He was also pretty sure they were having problems at home because of their relationship, but he couldn't do much about that.

Sirius, however, took the trouble to enter the room when the door was open, sure not to interrupt anything, and to embarrass them beyond repair with a sex education lesson and a list of all the spells useful in a relationship between two men, enjoying immensely their embarrassed faces. Especially Seamus, his ears were glowing at the end of their chat.

"How do you know so much?" he blurted out towards the end and Sirius laughed.

"What do you think? Takes one to know one, not that you two have been very discreet: at least a  _ Silencio _ , do I really have to explain the basics? You are not doing anything wrong, but nobody wants to know in detail what you are doing "

The two nodded, their chastened faces quite convincing. He hadn't had this fun in a long time.

He started to leave when Dean called him back.

“While we were tidying up we found these, we put them all together not knowing what to do with them,” the boy said, handing him a box of what appeared to be documents. Seamus still couldn't look him in the face.

“It's probably all throwaway stuff. And please, you two, I was a teenager in the seventies and you have no idea how many diseases you can get if you don't do it right. Protection spells, always "

He left the room rather amused, headed for the library to leave there the box he really didn't want to dig in at the moment, but in the corridor, he was stopped by Luna.

"Can I renovate Regulus's room?" he asked him without preamble.

Sirius wasn't sure why Luna was in Grimmauld Place instead of going home to Xenofilus, but he certainly wasn't going to be the one to kick her out. No one had wanted Regulus's room, partly because Sirius and Harry had redeemed the now deceased boy's name and partly because it was on the fourth floor, the highest in the house if you didn't count the attic. Also, the only other room on that floor was Sirius's that the man still used.

The only person who didn't seem bothered by all this was Luna who was the only one not having to share one of the larger bedrooms.

“You can do whatever you want. But don't throw anything away, get some boxes "

“Okay. I keep the bed "

"I would advise you to disinfect it properly" Merlin knew what Kreacher could have done in all those years alone.

-

On the morning of the twelfth, Lavender arrived accompanied by Parvati and the two wandered around the house looking for Sirius, whom they found standing on the kitchen table while he was fixing the chandelier. Technically there was also a dining room, but it was in poor condition and far from the kitchen. Besides, none of them was the kind of person to use a formal dining room, especially when there was a huge table in the kitchen that could seat twenty people.

The animagus saw the girls in the door and smiled at them. He quickly finished with the chandelier and jumped off the table, startling something that was at the bottom of the cupboard. He hoped they weren't more doxies.

He greeted the girls and offered them something to drink, but they both refused and so he preferred to get down to business.

“Do you feel different? Apart from the agitation "

“I feel pretty restless, like… like I have an exam or have missed something, but I can't figure out what it is. What happened to the wall? " Sirius was slightly surprised by the change of subject, but difficulty concentrating was not an unusual symptom.

"We're redecorating," he said sarcastically, but he gave him an idea.

Lavender was clearly filled to the tip of her hair with nervous energy, maybe a little housework would help to distract her. He didn't have the impression that the girl was in pain of any kind, as it happened to Remus in the hours before the full moon.

They then spent the day redecorating; the long corridor at the entrance, from which he had cut off the painting, was already in bad shape so they removed all the portraits and began to tear off the rotten wallpaper.

Harry had found a spellbook for renovations somewhere, and he and Parvati set about looking for useful spells.

"What colour would you like to repaint?" Sirius asked Lavender as he cleared the strips of wallpaper from the floor. Much of the plaster had come off, but they would fix that too.

“Blacks all have star names, don't they? Or most of them anyway. I would opt for a nice blue, maybe even with the stars, a bit like an Astronomy map ”suggested the witch shrugging and Sirius was pleasantly surprised.

"Lav, that's a brilliant idea," he said honestly and the girl smiled.

"But maybe let's skip the moon," she added shyly and Sirius couldn't help but smile.

"It seems right. It's decided, the starry sky will be. How are you two with those spells? "

"We found everything we needed," Parvati replied.

It was a rather delicate job, but at the end of the day, the four looked extremely satisfied. First of all, they had checked and secured the wall, plastered it again and then moved on to the decoration. In the book they had found a spell that transferred the image from the parchment to the wall, allowing them to enlarge it and even decide its colour and if Sirius had found the old drawings in which they had created the constellations of the Marauders and if he had added Prongs and Moony into the firmament. next to the Major Dog, who were the others to judge? Besides, no one was studying astronomy at Hogwarts properly anyway.

The background colour was a beautiful deep blue that some passing Ravenclaw particularly appreciated while the images of the constellations were gold.

"Padfoot, it's spectacular," Harry finally said.

“Congratulations to everyone, are you hungry? Right now I could eat even the rubble "

Sirius was grateful for Harry for various reasons, but one of them was that the boy, unlike him, knew how to cook, which made their cohabitation free from takeaway food and allowed them to feed the foundlings.

Lavender barely touched any food and the four of them spent a long time talking and trying to ease the tension even when the other kids got up and left. The girl was more and more agitated and nervous, Sirius tried to cast a couple of spells discreetly, but they had no effect. It wasn't anxiety, it was the moon.

The chances of Lavender transforming were very slim, she was bitten out of the full moon, but with Greyback in the equation, who could know for sure?

An hour after sunset, Sirius walked her to the cellar and sealed himself inside with her. He was ready for the worst, but he always was.

At the zenith of the moon, Lavender's eyes turned yellow and her canines more pronounced. She growled at the moon and at Sirius, who while still in human form, showed his teeth in a rather convincing throaty sound. Dog once ...

Sirius waited, ready to see her transform more, but it didn't happen - that was the extent of her infection.

The girl didn't calm down until the sun came up at which point she burst into tears of relief and hugged him again.

"Obviously I advise you not to go around on the day of the full moon and maybe find a room with resistant windows and doors, but I would say that you are okay," he said, stroking her head while the girl continued to cry and nod.

Leaving the cellar, Lavender found Parvati and fell asleep next to her without waking her.

Sirius decided to try to sleep for a few hours before heading out for yet another raid of the Order. They tell you the war is over, but they omit that it's up to you to clean up.

-

Sirius didn't particularly need the library at the moment, busy with everything else as he was, but Hermione had been bitten quite badly by a book and it couldn't stay in that condition. Since he had reopened the house he had only gone in to deposit a couple of boxes that he would have checked "later".

It seemed that the later had finally arrived.

First, he pulled back the curtains and opened the windows, letting in some light and relieving the stale, damp smell. Something unidentified flew away the moment he managed to open the jammed windows, but Sirius didn't care.

The room, like the rest of the house, was dark, half-rotten, dusty, and would surely attempt at his life a couple of times. The kids had scarcely ventured into that room which had remained rather unchanged. A shame, as the library was stocked with hard-to-find books, the kind of stuff that would have made the Marauders salivate. But it would be up to him to separate the safe books from those that would try to cripple whoever opened them.

He quickly spotted the book he was told had already done damage; it was a Latin manual of chanting spells, the kind of magic that had completely disappeared from the nation with the spread of wands. He was sure that in other places it was still used a lot, but in England, it was in disuse, even he had barely read about them.

The book was quite offended that it had been sidelined for so long and over the years it had become angry and aggressive to the point of developing teeth.

It was a remarkable thing, Sirius had initially believed that it was simply a cursed book.

He managed to persuade the book not to detach a couple of his phalanges and after a while it even allowed him to read it. They would be friends.

The library collection was all neatly catalogued and referred to a large catalogue in the top drawer of the room's impressive desk. The list also indicated the aggressive books and the spell to use before consulting them. Orion had always been quite obsessive; he was surprised that his late father hadn't put a spell on the catalogue as well, but it was more likely that over time any protection had simply dissolved.

Several books were dealing with the Dark Arts and blood spells, he wasn't sure what to do with those books, not being in the least interested in the topics they dealt with. For the moment he decided to create an area of the library, higher up and difficult to reach, impossible to consult without the password, in which to confine all the books that would have been better kept out of the reach of the Foundlings.

When he risked stumbling for the fourth time in a box that was waiting for him, he decided to dedicate himself first to them and then to the remaining books of the library.

Some contained junk, one contained the family album: an ugly deal already from the cover with seventeen family photos, the first without Regulus, the last without him. Always in the same position, always the same expressions.

Sirius hated the "day of the photo" and Walburga hated it too, but it placated his father's obsessive phobia of not having a recent photo in case any of them had died and the had to be indulged. He pulled out a couple of photos of just him and Regulus in which the two were smiling at each other before everything went to hell, and the most recent of Reg and then setting the rest on fire. The last thing he wanted was a paper memento that he had been raised by them.

Seeing that his mood was now plummeting, he decided to also check the box that Dean and Seamus had filled with his mother's things.

There was nothing special in the box, several years of his mother's personal diaries, correspondence, invitations to take tea at the homes of other fanatics like them.

There were also some letters from Regulus from the last few years to Hogwarts and at the bottom of the box he found a strip of parchment yellowed by time. On it, there were splashes of ink, little fingerprints, and written in the crooked and barely legible handwriting of a child: 'SIRUS ONION BLAC'.

Was it possible that his mother had kept something written by him?

The thing that surprised him even more, was when, turning the strip of parchment, he found a note added by his mother. For a moment he was even more irritated, noticing how similar their handwriting was, but then he read what his mother had written.

\-  _ I hadn't laughed like that for years, Sirius smiled at me when I asked him if I could keep it and then took another piece of parchment to keep trying. He is such a persistent child _

Sirius couldn't remember his mother laughing genuinely. He remembered her smirking, making some sarcastic noises, but it was hard for him to imagine his mother amused by his innocent grammar error.

Sometimes, especially after meeting James's parents and seeing the abyss that separated them from his own, he had dreamed of a version of Walburga more like Euphemia, in which she sat on the edge of the bed to tuck the covers in a tiny Sirius and kissed his forehead, or her sitting on the sofa, his head resting on her legs as she read aloud and stroked his hair, Reg leaning on the other side of her.

Was it possible that they were memories and not mere fantasies?

Could there have been a period, albeit a brief one, when his mother hadn't hated him?

Uncle Alphard had told him about it, but he had never believed it too much.

His father was even worse, but he was never there, instead, Walburga was almost always at home; except for a few rare outings of a few hours, she was always there, ready to criticize everything, to make him feel like the last of the worms as if something deeply wrong with him prevented her from loving him. As if he had decided to be born, and to be born wrong for that family, wrong to be loved by others.

He wanted to re-attach his mother's portrait to a wall and start a screaming contest that would make the whole house tremble. He contented himself with incinerating the heads of the house-elves that were attached to the wall of the staircase leading from the ground floor to the first floor.

A light-haired boy, whom Sirius had no idea what his name was, was tasked with choosing the new staircase style and when he proposed a light blue with dark blue and gold accents to match the starry corridor, the man had agreed and hired the boy to help, discovering in the process that the boy's name was Dennis.

At the end of the day he and a dozen kids found themselves seated around the table, Harry next to him.

Sirius had no appetite at all, he wanted to drink, but for this reason, he at least forced himself to try to eat, in his glass only water. It was clear that he wasn't in the mood for conversation, he was also regretting not staying in his room. He was probably ruining everyone's dinner, as usual.

"I like what you did on the staircase, those heads were chilling," Harry said cautiously.

"As a child they caused me nightmares, it was quite liberating to get them out of the way," he said, keeping his tone as quiet as possible. Be good, Padfoot.

"Ah, this came while you were busy," he said, handing him a note.

It was an invitation from Andromeda to go get tea the following day. He nodded absently to himself and rolled around a green bean in his plate.

When he made up his mind to reach the fourth floor, sure he was going to face a sleepless night, he stopped on the landing, rather surprised.

"Luna?" he called to her and the girl poked her head out the door to her room. The door had turned bright green, but the plaque with Regulus's name was still there.

"Yes Sirius?" she said quietly. Sirius stood still a few seconds looking at the wall, astonished.

"You have given yourself a lot to do"

"Is it too much?"

"No, it's just that you surprised me"

The entire fourth-floor corridor had become a forest. There were trees of various kinds painted, hills in the distance and magical animals hiding. Ivy from a large tree in the foreground came out of the wall and climbed up the stairs' rail.

Luna had been working on Regulus's room for several days, but Sirius hadn't realized it was going to fix the corridor as well. It was wonderful.

“You did a fantastic job. Did anyone help you? "

“No, nobody likes the fourth floor. I don't understand why, you don't even scream anymore while you sleep, ”she explained with her usual quietly detached air and Sirius felt slightly like dying.

"I'm sorry that you ... why didn't you tell me anything?"

"Because none of us sleeps well, it didn't seem right to blame you"

“Well, thank you for putting up with me and for the wonderful job you did in the hallway. Good night"

"Wait, I have to show you something." She entered the room again and, a few seconds later, emerged with what looked like a canvas in his hand.

"I found it hidden behind the dresser, it seemed right to give it to you in person," she said, handing him the painting and Sirius's breath stopped in his throat. That day didn't seem to want to end.

"Initially I thought it was you, but there is something very different in the expression and in the shape of the jaw, right here," explained the girl quietly.

"Yeah, it's not me"

"Your brother had a nice nose"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here is the title of this story!  
> Some had already made some references a couple of chapters ago: “Ah! If only James and Lily had left a portrait! " and you were right.  
> You caught me in full, hats off.  
> Many changes are taking place at Grimmauld Place and many more will happen.  
> I thank all the good souls who read and review this story  
> The Cactus Incident
> 
> Uni and online classes don't work together, and when you add up normal high school studies, it's even worst. So I'm busy, but let's hope I'll always find the time for this fic.  
> And if you have time to read fanfiction, you can make time to learn a new language and read the original fic!  
> The Geeky Girl


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